*In partnership with Broadband Breakfast, we occasionally republish each other's content.

The following story by Broadband Breakfast Reporter Jake Neenan was originally published here.

Consumer advocacy groups that frequently appear before the Federal Communications Commission are not happy with President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the agency. 

Brendan Carr, the agency’s senior Republican who’s now set to take the reins in January, wrote the Project 2025 chapter on the FCC.

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In addition to telecom issues more traditionally in the FCC’s wheelhouse, he outlined plans to reinterpret Section 230, the law that protects internet platforms from liability for their users’ posts, and otherwise target big tech companies, who he has said unfairly target conservative views.

“While there has been much discussion about whether or not the breadth of Section 230 is appropriate, what everyone agrees on is that the authority lies with Congress, not the FCC, to change its scope,” Public Knowledge CEO Chris Lewis, said in a statement.

“It’s concerning that the incoming chair believes that the FCC has the authority to change the scope of the plain language of a statute, but not regulate broadband in the interest of consumers.”

A recent U.S. News And World Report survey of U.S. broadband subscribers shows that Americans are increasingly paying more money for broadband access.

The survey also indicates broad public support for the recently defunded Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), and other government-backed efforts to cap soaring broadband subscription costs.

The organization surveyed 2,500 adults from the country’s five most populous states; 500 broadband subscribers each in California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Not too surprisingly, the survey found that consumers consistently are paying more for broadband than the advertised price, either thanks to steady rate hikes, or the broad use of often sneaky, hidden fees to jack up the advertised cost of service.

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Most Americans remain trapped under a monopoly or duopoly for next-generation broadband (broadband defined as faster than 100/20 megabits per second, or Mbps) access. This lack of competition results in high prices, slow speeds, spotty access, substandard customer service, and an increased occurrence of net neutrality, privacy, or other anti-consumer violations.

The survey found the average U.S. subscriber bill at sign up is now $81 – up from the $77 average monthly price seen in the outlet’s April 2024 survey report. But the average broadband subscription cost when the bill actually arrives was now $98 per month; up from $89 just six months earlier. For most, $100 broadband access is right around the corner.

Now that the election has been settled, many in the broadband space are wondering what, if anything, will change with the incoming Trump administration.

Of course no one has a crystal ball, but there are a number of telecommunication policy developments we will be tracking, which include numerous fronts where there will likely be changes.

What those changes will be exactly will only become apparent sometime next year.

BEAD and DEA

The BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) program and Digital Equity Act (DEA) programs are at the center of the universe in the national effort to ensure everyone has high-speed access to the Internet.

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However, in the run-up to the election, GOP leaders were highly critical of the BEAD program, saying it was taking too long to dispense funds to build new networks, questioned the NTIA favoring the building of fiber networks, and criticized aspects of the effort they consider to be a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Montgomery County Maryland has been awarded the “Best Municipal or Public Connectivity Program,” honored as a 2024 Broadband Nation Award winner for its ongoing efforts to expand affordable broadband access and help bridge the digital divide.

Montgomery County has worked extensively for years to connect municipal services and key anchor institutions, but more recently has begun leveraging that infrastructure to expand access to the most vulnerable. The county’s efforts have two key components:

FiberNet is a 650-mile municipal fiber communication network that provides broadband services to 558 County, State, municipal, educational, and anchor institutions.

MoCoNet is the County’s residential broadband network that provides free 300/300 megabit per second (Mbps) Internet service for residents at affordable housing locations. Originally providing a symmetrical 100 Mbps service, the network was recently upgraded to 300 Mbps, and is currently available to low-income housing communities.

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Montgomery Connects Program Director Mitsuko Herrera tells ILSR that the county just received a $10 million grant from the State of Maryland to expand FiberNet and MoCoNet’s free 300 Mbps offering to 1,547 low-income and affordable housing units at seven properties operated by the County’s Housing Opportunities Commission.

The county’s also in the middle of upgrading its core fiber infrastructure to deliver significantly faster overall speeds.  

Among the burgeoning number of Tribal networks being built across Indian Country, a new fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network spanning the Southern Ute Indian Reservation is unique.

When service was lit up in Ignacio, Colorado in May, the network became the only open access network owned by a Tribal government, providing its residents with a choice between two different Internet Service Providers (ISP) offering lightning-fast connection speeds.

Five years in the making, the Southern Ute network is not only the first Tribally-owned open access network, it is also among the first of the new fiber projects funded by the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) to start offering services.

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With a strong commitment from Tribal leadership, savvy decision-making, and strategic vision, the Tribe has been able to fundamentally reshape the broadband market in its region, increasing speeds and competition while lowering prices.

Slow Speeds and High Prices Fuel Mission to ‘Bust That Monopoly’

As with many other Tribally-owned networks, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s broadband journey began with a recognition that the existing telecommunications infrastructure on the Reservation simply could not meet the needs of the modern moment.

Tribal Council Chairman Melvin J. Baker tells ILSR that many in Tribal leadership “realized we’ve needed it for quite some time.”

In honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, ILSR celebrates the growing number of Tribal nations exercising digital sovereignty by building Tribally-owned broadband networks.

Our freshly updated Indigenous Networks map and census highlights the burgeoning Tribal broadband movement, offering a window into this critical work across Indian Country.

Our updates underscore how much has changed since 2020 when ILSR first undertook research on Tribal networks. When we began tracking the development of Tribal broadband, of the 574 federally-recognized Tribes in the nation, there were about 40 Tribal networks offering service.

Four years later, there are now twice as many active networks in operation with 50 more Tribes who have secured funding to build their own networks, thanks in part to unprecedented federal investments in Tribal broadband. An additional four dozen Tribes have expressed interest in following suit, determined to close the digital divide in what has historically been the least connected part of the United States.

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Many Tribal broadband networks that we previously identified have continued to thrive. Others have been able to upgrade their services to offer fiber service, the gold standard of Internet connectivity.

Meanwhile, a steady stream of new Tribal broadband programs have launched, with networks coming online each year and many others on the horizon, signaling a period of tremendous growth in Tribal broadband.