It is time to update our understanding of the primary factors directly affecting end-user Internet performance. What we have learned is that high throughput alone is not sufficient. Latency is also a critical factor in providing a high-performance Internet connection. But that is not latency as we have traditionally understood it; rather, it is what we now define as 'working latency.' Over thirty years, industry has collectively missed a key factor that drives end users' Internet quality of experience (QoE). The industry has historically been focused on increasing bandwidth. But now we recognize that it is not just greater throughput that matters, but also consistently low latency. The industry is now coming to a new understanding of what latency really is, the role that latency plays, QoE, how latency occurs in any access network technology, and how to improve it. This report by the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group aims to help policymakers develop a new understanding of latency, and industry should implement and deploy technologies that reduce latency.

Federal and state agencies are gearing up to distribute billions of dollars in broadband grant monies under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is the lead organization tasked with distributing funds, while the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will handle the new low-income subsidy. Both agencies are expected to provide support and advice. NTIA’s main responsibility will be issuing and overseeing the $43.5 billion in grant monies to the states, as well as providing guidance to states as they develop their own plans. Each state and territory will have different organizational and fiscal resources and will receive $100 million in federal money out of a baseline of $5.4 billion spread equally among all. The remaining $38 billion in funding will be allocated on a proportional basis as a fraction of the number of unserved and underserved households in the state out of the national total of unserved and underserved households. Additional monies will first be allocated to unserved areas that don’t have today’s FCC baseline of 25 Mbps/3 Mbps then to underserved areas lacking reliable 100 Mbps/20 Mbps service, with a technical emphasis on projects providing broadband network solutions with low latency and easily scalable networks that are capable of not only supporting today’s 100 Mbps/20 Mbps minimum needs but “easily scalable” future growth over time.

President Joe Biden donned the jersey of Team Delay by making it clear he had pushed for airlines to get more time to account for certain kinds of legacy aviation equipment. “What I’ve done is pushed as hard as I can to have the 5G folks hold up and abide by what was being requested by the airlines until they could more modernize over the years, so 5G would not interfere with the potential of a landing,” Biden said. He spoke the same day AT&T and Verizon began launching their new 5G service — and as the Federal Aviation Administration continued to work out details of what planes can safely land where. This latest wireless squabble was public and messy enough to add pressure for the administration to smooth the interagency process for handling airwaves controversies in the future. That could mean anything from a national spectrum strategy to an updated memorandum of understanding between the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Biden didn’t mention any potential government fixes, telling reporters the 5G spat was a collision of “two private enterprises” — wireless and aviation. “Anything that happens that’s consequential is viewed as the government’s responsibility,” he added.

Starry, a small internet service provider based in Boston (MA), is celebrating a milestone for its Starry Connect service, expanding the reach of its digital equity program to more than 55,990 household units of public and affordable housing. Starry reached that goal at the end of 2021, a year that saw the company ink a deal with FirstMark Horizon Acquisition Corp. that will take it public. The company remains on track to close that SPAC transaction by the end of the first quarter of 2022. Starry Connect, its $15/month product that promises 30 Mpbs, targets public and affordable housing. Its reach translates into an increase of 87.6 percent year-over-year. At the end of 2020, the Starry Connect service was available for 29,843 public and affordable housing units. Starry is challenging incumbents in the home broadband space by using 802.11 technology. Starry acquired licensed spectrum in the 24 GHz auction and uses millimeter-wave to deliver wireless internet to homes. Starry’s standard fee is $50 per month for internet service, which currently is available in Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, Denver, as well as Washington, D.C., and Columbus. The company has not yet announced new markets for 2022.