I’ve seen folks around the country suggesting that state broadband offices ought to put a priority on sustainability when selecting winners of broadband grant funding. It’s a concept that has instant appeal, but I immediately asked myself what it means. How do you measure sustainability in a way that can be used to score grant requests? The first test of sustainability is the expected life of the assets being constructed. Another test of any internet service provider (ISP) on sustainability is the financial ability and willingness to replace those electronics. That’s hard to judge. A big factor in sustainability is the operating philosophy of the ISP that owns the networks. We know there is a big range of (what I would call) corporate responsibility between ISPs. If we go strictly by the past, then the ISPs that have the most likely chance of operating a sustainable network for the long term are cooperatives or small telcos. If sustainability was the most important factor in awarding a grant, I personally would give all of the money to cooperatives and none to big ISPs. 

An audit of the Oregon Broadband Office by Secretary of State Shemia Fagan (D-OR) found the office will likely be prepared to receive and facilitate upcoming federal infrastructure grant awards. However, the office will require more assistance, and federal funding specifically earmarked for broadband grant administration, to ensure Oregon receives all the available grant money and disburses it to communities with the most critical needs first. Auditors found the Oregon Broadband Office will need to focus additional efforts in the areas of strategic planning; documenting and distributing its processes, policies, and procedures, timelines, roadmaps, and milestones to its stakeholders to ensure transparency; and be more aggressive in removing barriers to broadband implementation. Auditors also note opportunities for the office to effectively monitor and improve broadband programs to close the known broadband gap. The office should pursue collaborative and unique ways of closing the digital divide through continued stakeholder engagement and by establishing dedicated funding for equitable broadband implementation in Oregon. The audit focused on the Oregon Broadband Office’s 14 statutory requirements set in action by the 2019 House Bill 2173. The auditors made 10 recommendations in total addressed to the Oregon Broadband Office, with the assistance of the Oregon Business Development Department, and the Oregon Broadband Advisory Council.

The Nebraska Legislature began its 2023 session with talk of unity but hints of battles yet to come. State Sen. Suzanne Geist (R-Lincoln) defeated State Sens. Tom Brandt (R-Crete) and Mike Moser (R-Columbus) to chair the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee. Sen Brandt called for less reliance on existing telecommunications companies to expand broadband. On Jan 5, he introduced a bill to authorize leasing of dark fiber and eliminate certain powers of the Public Service Commission. Chairwoman Geist, who is also running for mayor of Lincoln, said the state has great opportunities to expand broadband, but needs to make sure it’s also maintained. “We do have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that's going to present great numbers of money to the state. However, we have to answer the question with the industries that will be involved with this: How are we going to maintain this broad network that the money is going to come in?” Sen Geist said.

In the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019, Congress directed the Federal Communications Commission to establish the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to reimburse providers of advanced communications services for costs incurred to remove, replace, and dispose of communications equipment and services in their networks that pose a national security risk. As part of the FCC’s obligations under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau submits this report on: (1) the implementation of the Reimbursement Program by the Commission; and (2) “the work by recipients of reimbursements under the Reimbursement Program to permanently remove, replace, and dispose of covered communications equipment or services in their networks. To date, 30 Reimbursement Program recipients have, collectively, submitted 1,988 Reimbursement Claim Requests. The Bureau have approved $40,965,745 in Reimbursement Claims. The Bureau estimates that 2% of recipients that submitted status updates have completed the permanent removal, replacement, and disposal of all the covered communications equipment and services in their networks. The Bureau estimates that around 830% of respondents have made some progress in their overall plan but have not completed the work. An estimated 15% of respondents indicated that they have not yet begun the work to permanently remove, replace, and dispose of the covered communications equipment and services in their networks. Although these estimates show that there is still a considerable amount of work to be done to fulfill all of the objectives of the Reimbursement Program, the majority of recipients began to implement the removal, replacement, and disposal plans before the October 13, 2022 due date for their status updates.

Comcast is targeting “less than $200” per location to upgrade its network to support higher and more symmetrical broadband speeds, but Charter is only targeting $100 per location with the same goal, note financial analysts from MoffettNathanson. The analysts delved into the differences between what the two companies are planning and speculated about the difference in cost estimates. The number of locations targeted for the two companies are similar – 50 million for Comcast and 55 million for Charter. The key differences between the anticipated costs, according to MoffettNathanson:

• Charter’s plans call for upgrading to DOCSIS 4.0 for only 85% of its target 55 million locations, while Comcast DOCSIS 4.0 plans apparently encompass all 50 million of that company’s target locations.
• The two companies plan to use different DOCSIS 4.0 options. Charter plans to use Extended Spectrum DOCSIS (ESD), while Comcast plans to use Full Duplex DOCSIS (FDX). The former dedicates different frequencies to upstream and downstream communications within the coaxial portion of a hybrid fiber coax (HFC) connection and supports greater capacity on the downstream path. 
• FDX is expected to be less costly eventually because it minimizes the need to make certain additional investments in the network, such as certain taps, but it requires special amplifiers that require further development, particularly if they are to become cost-effective, according to the analysts. As a result, Comcast may need to accomplish its network upgrades in two separate steps, increasing upgrade costs, the analysts speculate.
• Charter already has made greater use of switched digital video (SDV) in its network, eliminating the need to dedicate spectrum to content that isn’t being watched and therefore making more spectrum available for broadband.