Zelenskyy and Aliyev talk over the phone
On 10 August, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a telephone conversation with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev....
Evan Feinman, the former director of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, has departed his role amid concerns over a potential policy shift that could replace high-speed fiber connections with slower, more expensive satellite internet services.
Feinman’s exit, reported by ProPublica’s Craig Silverman, comes as the new administration prepares to overhaul the program.
In an email to staffers—screenshotted and shared on Bluesky—Feinman warned that proposed changes aimed at a “tech-neutral stance” might reduce the number of American homes and businesses benefiting from fiber connections while increasing reliance on satellite technology. “The new administration seems to want to make changes that ignore the clear direction laid out by Congress, reduce the number of American homes and businesses that get fiber connections, and increase the number that get satellite connections. The degree of that shift remains unknown, but regardless of size, it will be a disservice to rural and small-town America. Stranding all or part of rural America with worse internet so that we can make the world’s richest man even richer is yet another in a long line of betrayals by Washington,” Feinman wrote.
The BEAD Program, established in 2021, was designed to expand high-speed internet access to underserved rural areas. However, the program has recently come under scrutiny. Howard Lutnick, the new Secretary of Commerce, criticized the previous administration’s handling of the program, arguing that it “has not connected a single person to the internet.” Lutnick has advocated for a “tech-neutral stance” and signaled a potential pivot away from a strong preference for fiber connections. His approach, which includes rolling out satellite options such as those offered by Elon Musk’s Starlink, has raised concerns among critics who fear that such a shift will deliver slower speeds at higher costs to consumers.
Feinman urged colleagues to advocate for the removal of “needless requirements” but cautioned strongly against moving away from fiber. His departure and warning highlight growing tensions over how best to modernize America’s rural broadband infrastructure without compromising performance for cost.
As the Commerce Department moves forward with its planned overhaul, the debate over the optimal mix of broadband technologies remains a key issue for policymakers, rural communities, and industry stakeholders alike.
The world’s biggest dance music festival faces an unexpected setback as a fire destroys its main stage, prompting a last-minute response from organisers determined to keep the party alive in Boom, Belgium.
According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the Oaxaca region of Mexico on Saturday.
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will send an upgraded ‘version 3.0’ free-trade agreement to their heads of government for approval in October, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday after regional talks in Kuala Lumpur.
A resumption of Iraq’s Kurdish oil exports is not expected in the near term, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, despite an announcement by Iraq’s federal government a day earlier stating that shipments would resume immediately.
Chinese automaker Chery has denied an industry-ministry audit that disqualified more than $53 million in state incentives for thousands of its electric and hybrid vehicles, insisting it followed official guidance and committed no fraud.
A bus and a truck collided in Brazil’s central-western state of Mato Grosso late Friday, leaving 11 people dead and 45 others injured, according to the toll road operator and the federal highway police.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a telephone conversation.
One person was killed and homes and an industrial site were damaged in an overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Saratov region, the governor said. Moscow reported 121 drones downed nationwide and briefly halted flights in Saratov.
In a joint statement, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Finland and the European Commission said Ukraine alone must decide its future. Their declaration came ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
Two wildfires in Türkiye’s northwestern Canakkale province destroyed dozens of homes and forced around 1,000 people to evacuate, officials said.
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