December 2016

Gov Walker announces $35.5 million plan to expand broadband in rural areas

Gov Scott Walker (R-WI) is asking the state Legislature to pass a bill that allocates about $35 million to expand broadband and technology in rural areas. Gov Walker was in Seymour (WI) where a year ago he held the first of more than 70 listening sessions in the past year. The governor says a re-occurring theme at the sessions has been access to reliable broadband Internet.

The proposed legislation provides an additional $35.5 million for broadband expansion efforts and TEACH grants over the next three fiscal years. The TEACH program provides money to schools, libraries, and other educational institutions to upgrade technology and train teachers from small and rural school districts. The funding comes from a surplus in the Universal Service Fund, which was established in 1993 to address telecommunications needs.

Charlotte-based phone, Internet provider to sell itself for $1.5 billion

Charlotte (NC)-based FairPoint Communications announced it is being purchased for $1.5 billion by an Illinois telecommunications company called Consolidated Communications. The deal has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors at both companies. The deal is expected to close by mid-2017. The combined company will keep the Consolidated Communications name, and it will be headquartered in Mattoon (IL).

Consolidated CEO Bob Udell will serve as president and CEO of the combined company, and one director from the FairPoint board will join Consolidated’s board of directors, the two companies said. FairPoint provides phone and Internet service in 17 states, with its largest network in northern New England. This past summer, FairPoint’s largest investor, New York-based Maglan Capital, said the company needed to consider selling itself because it had failed to maximize shareholder value.

AT&T likely to win FirstNet, but delays could hurt

[Commentary] AT&T is likely going to win the right to provide the nation’s first broadband network dedicated to public safety. FirstNet hasn’t officially announced anything yet, and no doubt it needs to let court proceedings run their course. But ultimately, it means AT&T could win a 25-year contract to use 20 megahertz of 700 MHz beachfront spectrum and $6.5 billion for designing and operating the nationwide network for federal, state and local authorities, with the right to sell excess capacity on the system.

It’s anybody’s guess what the incoming administration in Washington, D.C., will mean for the organization and its lofty goals. FirstNet has come a long way, and it’s still got a long way to go. But finally hearing a likely winner emerging is encouraging after FirstNet’s long-fought battle.

Will Donald Trump Dismantle the Internet as We Know It?

The Republican party’s 2016 platform referred to existing network neutrality rules as the “gravest peril” putting “the survival of the internet as we know it ... at risk.” But President-elect Donald Trump is unpredictable enough that looking to his party doesn’t offer much clarity as to what he might actually do.

Rather than basing his decisions on overarching principles—or party platforms—the president elect often seems to be guided by vendetta (or at least the desire to generate a punchy sound bite). Trump’s record of opposing monopolies, for instance, often centers around his disdain for the media, which was a reliable crowd-pleaser among his supporters.