When EPB, Chattanooga's municipal power utility, launched its Internet, video, and phone services nearly a decade ago in conjunction with its efforts to build a smarter electric grid, the city-owned utility projected it should attract more than 30,000 customers of its telecom services within five years to cover its costs and break even.
Even in the country that invented the internet, access has remained painfully slow for many rural residents in places like the central state of Arkansas, far from the big cities of the East and West coasts. That may be about to change. The Federal Communications Commission recently auctioned off almost $1.5 billion in subsidies to get broadband providers to serve an additional 700,000 American homes over the next 10 years. Additional such auctions are planned.
Secretary Sonny Perdue didn’t have many new details to share about the upcoming $600 million US Department of Agriculture rural broadband pilot when he addressed stakeholders at a USTelecom event. But his comments suggested that could change soon. “I’ve challenged my people to have a solid plan in place by the end of the year,” said Sec Perdue. He also noted that “we are close to determining the rules but we’re not there just yet.” He noted that USDA received more than 250 comments from stakeholders in response to the agency’s request for input on the pilot program.
For 5G, rather than relying on the huge cellular towers that already loom over industrial parks and shopping centers, carriers are counting on "small cell" antennas placed only hundreds of feet apart. About the size of a backpack, a small cell is typically installed atop an existing utility pole or streetlight, sometimes with other equipment closer to the ground. The small antennas are less powerful than cell towers, covering an area of up to 1,000 feet rather than a few miles. So carriers need more of them to blanket a neighborhood.
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