D.C. Memo: West Virginia Republican Wants Common Carrier Rules for Broadband ISPs
State regulators would require ISPs to provide safe, adequate, and reliable service to customers under just, fair, and reasonable terms and conditions.
Headlines
▪️BREAKING: Comcast Lost 181,000 Broadband Subs in Q425
▪️CityFibre, a U.K. Wholesale ISP, Slashing Hundreds of Workers
▪️Conn. AG Tong (D) to Charter: You’re Not Leaving Stamford!
▪️X Post of the Day: Carr, Newsom Spar over Lifeline Fraud
▪️Ruddy Takes Final Swing at Nexstar-TEGNA at FCC
▪️CAGW’s Collier Wants Action on Copper Theft
▪️Dell’Oro Group Reduces 50 Gbps PON Deployment Forecast
▪️Gov. Mills: Everyone in Maine Has Internet Access
▪️Arkansas Gets Its BEAD Money from NIST
▪️Second Circuit Won’t Rehear DIRECTV’s Antitrust Win over Nexstar
▪️Wade Davis Joins Charter Board of Directors
▪️Amazon Cutting 16,000 Jobs Globally
BREAKING: Comcast reported fourth quarter 2025 results Thursday morning. “Total domestic broadband customer net losses were 181,000, total domestic wireless line net additions were 364,000 and total domestic video customer net losses were 245,000,” the company said. The loss of 181,000 broadband subs was significantly worse than the 104,000 lost in the third quarter of 2025. Comcast is holding a call today with Wall Street analysts at 8:30 a.m. ET.
ISPs: A West Virginia lawmaker is sponsoring a bill that would regulate broadband ISPs as common carriers. Interestingly, the bill’s sponsor – Sen. Craig A. Hart of Mingo County – is a Republican. Under Hart’s bill , the state’s Public Service Commission would have authority to “require Internet Service Providers to provide safe, adequate, and reliable service to customers under just, fair, and reasonable terms and conditions.” That’s textbook common carrier language that ISPs have been fighting for decades, highlighted by the 2025 federal court victory that stopped the Biden FCC from classifying ISPs as utilities. (More after paywall.)
