Protec Michigan

09/02/2026

PENNSYLVANIA WJAC-TV News — Are our rural students being left behind?

According to the latest numbers, households in counties across the area are classified as underserved or unserved by the federal broadband equity access and deployment program, meaning these households rely on limited infrastructure, have only a baseline internet connection, or have no internet access at all.

Geographical challenges, like mountains and valleys, continue to create underserved areas for service across various districts.

FULL STORY: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AZom1LYKNK0

08/31/2026

Broadband Deployment:

Agencies Should Take Steps to Better Target Underserved Areas and Consider Sustainability.

Access to broadband is critical for work, school, and healthcare. Federal programs have received billions of dollars in recent years to build broadband networks in remote or underserved areas. Some programs expect to complete these networks before the end of 2029—others in 2030 and beyond.

Federal programs use Federal Communications Commission data to target funding to underserved areas. FCC accepts challenges from the public on the accuracy of its data and updates it as needed. But small communities and providers with few resources find the challenge process burdensome.

We made recommendations, including that FCC improve its challenge process. - U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Access to broadband is critical for work, school, and healthcare. Federal programs have received billions of dollars in recent years to build...

08/28/2026

The FCC has Amended Closed Captioning Rules for Video Programmers to alleviate obligations for providers of PEG programming and providers of programming carried on nonbroadcast networks.

FCC Chairman Carr stated in a statement that this was a costly burden being removed for the PEG (Public, Educational, and Government) programmers.

The Commission originally assigned closed captioning in 2014.

In a petition filed in August 2016, the Alliance for Community Media (ACM) requested that the closed captioning registration and certification requirements be waived for program producers that provide programs exclusively to PEG channels.18 PEG channels are authorized by section 611 of the Act, which permits cable franchising authorities to “establish requirements in a franchise with respect to designation or use of channel capacity for public, educational, or governmental use.”19 According to ACM, PEG programming is provided by more than 1.2 million volunteers and more than 250,000
community groups across the United States, including “ordinary citizens and organizations—Cub Scouts, gospel choirs, political candidates, and community groups of every possible type,”20 and the vast majority of PEG channels are exempt from the Commission’s captioning rule.

Full ruling in comments.

08/25/2026

FCC Review Could End School Internet Program. Advocates Plan ‘Very Loud’ Protest.

- The Associated Press

As superintendent of Desert Sands Unified in California’s Coachella Valley, Kelly May-Vollmer has a hard time naming a system that’s not somehow connected to the district’s broadband network.

Parents can check a school bus tracking app to make sure their child arrived on time. Cafeteria staff don’t use cash registers; kids’ meal accounts are linked to the cloud. Even grounds crews depend on external wireless access points to maintain the fields and landscaping at the district’s 34 schools.

“They’re running our sprinkler systems off iPads,” May-Vollmer said.

Her district is like the more than 96,000 across the country that apply each year for discounts on broadband service through a federal program called E-Rate. High-poverty districts like Desert Sands save up to 90% of the cost of connecting their schools and classrooms to the internet.



https://apnews.com/article/fcc-review-schools-broadband-service-erate-c00d8ef57b431cdeea9297a7c578f301

08/24/2026

📺 Just checking in that you know the importance of this and the purpose of its existences. PROTEC General Counsel Mike Watza and Deborah Guthrie bring to light the purpose of the FCC in this clip from the 30th Anniversary video ⤵️

https://youtu.be/2JIoxOiH4Yo?is=mpqAxaIOszKMz4nx

08/23/2026

The FCC abandons gigabit broadband speed goal
announcing it will no longer pursue a national gigabit download/half‑gigabit upload speed target, citing the inability to predict long‑term technological developments and consumer preferences.

- Digwatch

The FCC announced it will no longer pursue a national gigabit download/half‑gigabit upload speed target, citing the inability to predict long‑term technological developments and consumer preferences.

08/23/2026

“Trump FCC Weakens U.S. Broadband Speed Goals To The Benefit Of Elon Musk And Comcast.

from the “who-needs-standards? dept”
Fri, Aug 21st 2026 05:27am - Karl Bode

I’ve spent the better part of a lifetime studying and writing about the way corrupted lawmakers and U.S. telecom giants work hand in hand to erode U.S. broadband standards and mapping so they can obscure the way corruption and monopoly result in limited broadband competition — resulting in expensive, spotty, and slow U.S. internet access… The Trump administration has certainly been no exception.” - Techdirt

https://www.techdirt.com/2026/08/21/trump-fcc-weakens-u-s-broadband-speed-goals-to-the-benefit-of-elon-musk-and-comcast/

08/22/2026

💻 FCC opens comments on E-Rate as the program gets attacked in court. Advocates of E-Rate are concerned because FCC Chairman Brendan Carr seems inclined toward revisions to the program.

📧 Early commenters are concerned the FCC will reduce funding for the program. For example, Leisa Winston, superintendent of Huntington Beach City School District in California, wrote,

“Our district's connectivity is not a convenience; it is the delivery mechanism for state testing, student safety and wellness monitoring, emergency communication with families, and daily instruction across 9 schools. E-Rate matching funding of nearly $1.5 million over the past 10 years has helped us build and maintain that infrastructure, including networking switch upgrades and wireless access points, to a standard we could not otherwise afford.”

Article in comments. ⤵️

The FCC is taking comments on the E-Rate program

08/15/2026

In West Virginia, the county government is heavily invested financially to the expansion of broadband:

A $17.8 million agreement with Comcast through which a five-year push to spread broadband into unserved and underserved areas across Monongalia County is going to come down to the next four months.

The county put up $5.9 million to pull in an $11.84 million private investment aimed at connecting more than 2,100 homes and businesses focused in the county's western end. - The Dominion Post

MORGANTOWN – A five-year push to spread broadband into unserved and underserved areas across Monongalia County is going to come down to the next four months. Through a public, private partnership with Comcast, the county is working to complete four installation projects by Dec. 31. That’s not a ...

08/14/2026

Spectrum Business is also expanding in Genesee County. According to their announcement:

Spectrum announced the expansion of its fiber broadband network making Spectrum Internet, Mobile, TV and Voice services now available to more than 1,000 additional homes and businesses in previously unserved or underserved areas of Genesee County, Michigan, including in the townships of Argentine, Atlas, Davison, Flushing, Forest, Gaines, Montrose, Richfield and Thetford.



https://corporate.charter.com/newsroom/spectrum-expands-fiber-broadband-network-in-genesee-county-michigan