iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Christopher Ali

Hilde Van den Bulck @hildevdb.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Very happy with this lovely collaboration and its outcome @christopherali.bsky.social @jonkropko.bsky.social

Reposted by Christopher Ali

Pawel Popiel @ppopiel.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

New piece out with @christopherali.bsky.social @sydneyforde.bsky.social @theine.bsky.social examining the shifting terrain of US wireless competition policy via the T-Mobile / Sprint merger, and noting "performative competition" supplanting empirical analysis. journals.sagepub.com/eprint/ZB3CG...

We examine the evolving political economy of the U.S. wireless communications market through a case study of the 2020T-Mobile/Sprint merger. Drawing on industry data from the Global Media & Internet Concentration Project and policy documents from the merger review, we show how the merging parties and regulators worked to construct the perception of competition to justify the transaction's approval despite clear evidence of oligopolistic concentration. We conceptualize this strategy as performative competition, involving regulators downplaying antitrust concerns, reframing consumer harms, and emphasizing speculative promises of 5G deployment to approve a corporate merger. We argue that performative competition is an increasingly necessary regulatory strategy, which emerges from policymakers’ neoliberal deference to dominant industry actors in a political economy marked by the growing consolidation of wireless markets; entails an increasing decoupling of communications policymaking from regulatory empirical analysis; and fulfills a discursive policy function of legitimating policy decisions to policy stakeholders.

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Congratulations @abigailspanberger.com @teamspanberger.bsky.social for being elected #Virginia ‘s next governor! It was an honor to meet you when we worked on bringing #broadband to rural VA a few years ago! Now even more excited to brief members of the VA assembly this morning about broadband!

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

An honor to present research from my new book project @yaleisp.bsky.social yesterday! An amazing and brilliant group of scholars! Thank you!!!

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Does the NTIA even have the authority to exempt BEAD winners from state laws? Not that this administration really cares about jurisdiction or authority, but if the NTIA doesn’t have preemption power, states better sue. broadbandbreakfast.com/roth-no-stat...

broadbandbreakfast.com

Roth: No State Net Neutrality, Affordability Laws for BEAD Participants

She said grantees would also have to forgo federal opex subsidies like the USF.

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

Writing a book is equal parts terror and elation. There is no middle ground.

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Can I just say that I am so very proud of the graduate students that I have the privilege to worth with @pennstateuniv.bsky.social. They are brilliant, they are diligent, and they are caring. #ica25 @ica-clp.bsky.social

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Reposted by Christopher Ali

Rob Pegoraro @robpegoraro.com · 11/06/2025

If you wanted to read 2,000-plus words on the FCC's ability to conduct any more business with only two of its five commissioners in office--look, you know who you are!--Public Knowledge's @haroldfeld.bsky.social has once again risen to the occasion.

publicknowledge.org

Is the Federal Communications Commission Out of Commission?

For the first time that anyone can remember, the agency lacks a legal quorum to do business.

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

The changes to broadband policy are doing serious harm to our communities (esp. low income and BIPOC communities) - it robs them of their voices and of their digital futures by replacing long term security with short term and incomplete connectivity. www.ntia.gov/press-releas...

ntia.gov

Trump Administration Announces the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD Program that Removes Regulatory Burdens, Lowers Costs and Expands Use of All Technologies | National Telecommunications and Information A...

NTIA Issues Policy Notice that Reverses Errors of Prior Administration and Puts BEAD on Path to SuccessWASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce�...

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

"Congress said we have to build broadband everywhere, so we’ll build what is barely adequate for today and ignore what’s needed for the future". I couldn't agree more!

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Reposted by Christopher Ali

Hilde Van den Bulck @hildevdb.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

So happy about this excellend collaboration with @christopherali.bsky.social and @jonkropko.bsky.social - and thank you @mjanssen.bsky.social at Current for the opportunity #pbs #publicmedia

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Reposted by Christopher Ali

Bellisario Grad Ed @bellisariograded.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

More about Pioneers Chair @christopherali.bsky.social's research on trust in public media, coauthored with Hilde Van den Bulck & Jonathan Kropko. current.org/2025/06/stud...

current.org

Study shows Americans trust PBS precisely because it’s publicly funded - Current

A study finds that "Americans from across the political spectrum do not subscribe to the notion of a biased PBS."

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Confession: I know how well my day will go based on how well I complete the wordle, quordle, octordle, and crossword each morning

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Huge congratulations to my friends at the Hoopa Valley Public Utility District/Acorns Wireless for winning the Seven Star Community Award at this year’s #netinclusion! Bravo! So well deserved!! #ndia

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

I’m so excited to be heading the Gila River Indian Community today to attend #netinclusion2025 #ndia! Three days of nerding it up with all things #digitalequity and #digitalinclusion!

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

As if cable provision couldn't become more concentrated in this country, now Charter and Cox are merging. The #FCC needs to stop its discriminatory witch hunt against DEI initiatives and start doing its actual job and protecting the public interest. #ugh www.lightreading.com/cable-techno...

lightreading.com

Cablepalooza: Charter and Cox strike $34.5B merger

Charter and Cox have agreed to combine in a deal that values privately held Cox at $34.5 billion. The combo stands to create the largest US cable operator with 69.5 million locations passed and 37.6 m...

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Honored to have been part of the #BroadbandHeroes podcast from Bonfire Infrastructure Group where I got to jump on my soapbox to support digital equity and inclusion, including universal, affordable broadband! #digitalequity m.youtube.com/watch?si=t6q...

m.youtube.com

Broadband Heroes | Ep. 44 | Reimagining Broadband Through Stories with Dr. Christopher Ali

YouTube video by BROADBAND HEROES

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

Huge congratulations @erikasolis.bsky.social (Dr. Solis) for passing their dissertation defense yesterday and for writing a brilliant dissertation on the political economy of microtransactions. So proud of you!!!

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Shame on the republican congress for repealing this #fcc decision (still needs to go through the house). But where are the democrats defending bringing broadband to school kids? broadbandbreakfast.com/senate-votes...

broadbandbreakfast.com

Senate Votes to Repeal Biden FCC’s Wi-Fi Hotspots Rule

House companion effort led by Rep. Fulcher expected to move next.

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

It’s funny (not ha-ha funny) that Trump announced an executive order to gut funding for @pbs.org @npr.org because of bias, when our paper just came out this week showing how viewers TRUST PBS because of its non-biased news! We’ve got the data to show it too! academic.oup.com/joc/advance-...

academic.oup.com

An island of trust: public broadcasting in the United States

Abstract. This contribution aims to better understand the level of and reasons for the trust U.S. television viewers place in the Public Broadcasting Servi

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Excited to announce that my new publication "When you wish upon a Star(link)" was published this morning in @techpolicypress.bsky.social! In the article I critique the Department of Commerce's plans to change broadband funding in the US. www.techpolicy.press/when-you-wis...

techpolicy.press

When You Wish Upon a Star(link) | TechPolicy.Press

Satellite and fiber broadband are not equal, and any policy that treats them as such will widen the very divide we're trying to bridge, writes Christopher Ali.

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Throwing this out to the Bluesky #broadband verse: has anyone written about theirony that when the FCC launched the ACP it did so online? I.e. has anyone written about the failure of FCC outreach during the initial weeks of ACP? side note: I've got the GAO report form 2023

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Had a short but amazing time at the Comunity Broadband Action Network (CBAN) summit in Ames, Iowa today! Thank you so much Curtis Dean and Jon Willow for the invitation to deliver my keynote “From Empathy to Equity” and to Deb Socia for the fireside chat!

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Thinking about my Tuna today. It’s been almost four years and I still miss him so much.

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

It has been one of the great privileges of my career to work with @sydneyforde.bsky.social throughout her doctoral studies!! Congratulations Doctor Forde!!!

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Am presently going through the citizenship process here in the US. Doing so to protect my rights, the rights of my marriage, and to have the right to vote. It’s my interview today - think American thoughts for me!

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Great article this morning by Doug Dawson on the patchiness of urban cellular coverage. Glad to see that first responders were mentioned as they are a community that often gets neglected in these conversations. potsandpansbyccg.com/2025/04/02/f...

potsandpansbyccg.com

Fixing Urban Cellular Coverage

Anybody who lives in an urban or suburban area know that cell coverage is not the same everywhere. There are neighborhoods with great cell coverage, neighborhoods with so-so coverage, and neighbor…

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

The recipe called for 2tbps of champagne… can’t let the bottle go to waste 😘

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

While everyone knows I am a fierce advocate for rural broadband, satellite is not the panacea everyone thinks it is. This proposed bill, for instance, fails to understand how forested Appalachia is, which significantly impacts wireless connectivity. taylor.house.gov/media/press-...

taylor.house.gov

Congressman Taylor Introduces Bill Aimed at Expanding Broadband Access Across Appalachia

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Dave Taylor (OH-02) today introduced the Expanding Appalachia’s Broadband Access Act, which aims to increase access to broadband for rural communities across Appalachia.

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

With the PBS/NPR hearing 2day @hildevdb.bsky.social Jon Kropko & I have a forthcoming article in the Journal of Comm demonstrating that Americans that consume PBS trust it more than other platforms. This holds regardless of political orientation. PBS can be a gathering point if we let it flourish!

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Excited to host the legendary and iconic @gbsohn.bsky.social this evening @pennstateuniv.bsky.social with @saschameinrath.bsky.social for a fireside chat about the future of telecommunications!

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Reposted by Christopher Ali

Gigi Sohn @gbsohn.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Looking forward to being unplugged with my friends @saschameinrath.bsky.social & @christopherali.bsky.social tonight at @pennstateuniv.bsky.social!

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Honoured beyond belief to have been awarded the Broadband Hero award from The Bonfire Infrastructure Group yesterday in Philadelphia! @pennstateuniv.bsky.social

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Honored to give the morning keynote presentation at the Fiber Connect Regional Meeting in Philadelphia today. I’m going to talk about the power of stories in our broadband world. Many thanks to the Fiber Broadband Association for the opportunity!

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

So excited to give the Elihu Katz Colloquium @asc.upenn.edu tomorrow! Dr. Katz was a major influence and mentor to me and it is an honor to deliver a lecture in his name. This picture was taken 15 years ago while we worked on our book Echoes of Gabriel Tarde. www.asc.upenn.edu/news-events/...

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Brendan Carr needs to stop taking every opportunity he can find to bash the BEAD program. Not only does the FCC not have any jurisdiction in this program, but he is poisoning the waters for many hard working state broadband offices. #fcc #internetforall broadbandbreakfast.com/new-mexicos-...

broadbandbreakfast.com

New Mexico’s $70 Million Starlink Plan Not in State Budget

State broadband office requested $70 million last November for the Starlink project.

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Evan Feinman is a great guy put in an impossible job. I'm sad to see him go as NTIA's broadband director but love that he went out with a bang; a crucial warning about putting our BEAD eggs into the Starlink basket. Bravo, Evan! www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

politico.com

Top broadband official exits Commerce Department with sharp Musk warning

“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,” Evan Feinman warned.

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Christopher Ali @christopherali.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Honored to have been interviewed for this important article about telehealth

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