On February 23, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Notice of Inquiry related to digital redlining and how to prevent it in the future. Digital redlining is a practice in which some service providers have historically avoided providing broadband connections to certain areas, resulting in digital discrimination of some races and economic classes. Many large wireline providers have already filed comments with the FCC, including Verizon, AT&T and Lumen Technologies. Verizon expressed its support for measures to prevent digital redlining. And it touted its support for programs such as the FCC’s 2018 Connect America Fund (CAF), its 5G Fund for Rural America and the new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). But AT&T takes a more defensive stance in its comments. It repeatedly notes that private enterprise has invested approximately $2 trillion in risk capital over the past 25 years to build the country’s “massive broadband infrastructure.” It wants the FCC to “maintain the investment-friendly, light-touch regulatory policy that has governed broadband service for most of the past quarter century.” One segment of its comments is entitled “Allegations of Systemic Demographic Disparities in Broadband Availability Lack Any Factual Basis.”

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development division sought to delay the implementation of a “Buy American” provision included in the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) on the grounds that the requirement could hinder critical projects including broadband rollouts. Its move is notable given the USDA administers a number of key broadband funding initiatives, including the well-known ReConnect Program. Passed in November 2021, the IIJA included a Buy American rule which requires projects receiving federal infrastructure funding to use products and materials which contain at least 55 percent domestic content. That requirement was set to be applied to money obligated for projects after May 14, 2022. In a waiver request, though, the USDA asked that the rule’s implementation be delayed by six months. Among other things, the agency said the reprieve will give it more time to ensure program participants know how to meet the Buy American requirements so they can continue partaking in its programs. It will also help “avoid unintended negative impacts of immediate implementation,” which might include delayed rollouts of critical broadband, water and community infrastructure in rural areas.

Broadband access is increasingly necessary for everyday activities and especially vital for businesses, remote workers, online education and health care appointments, but Empire State Development’s (ESD) New NY Broadband Program has fallen short of its mission to bring universal broadband access to New Yorkers, according to an audit by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. The program was created in 2015 to make high-speed (100 megabits per second or Mbps) broadband service “universal” in all but the most remote areas of the state by 2018. ESD’s Broadband Program Office (BPO) manages the program, which was funded with $735 million in mostly state funds, but also included private and federal matching dollars. The money was targeted to bring access to 255,994 unserved and underserved households. Due to delays, as of March 2021, not all of those households had received access to service. Further, nearly one-third of the households that were connected to broadband — 78,690 households in remote areas — were given broadband access using satellite technology, which has a maximum download speed of 25 Mbps and whose signal can be weakened by rain or snow. Although many households were connected, many still were not by the announced 2018 completion deadline, with more than half of the program’s 126 projects delayed by as long as 48 months. The audit contains further key findings and recommendations regarding the program and can be found here.

Google Fiber’s West Region General Manager Ashley Church said the company is looking to launch its service in Mesa (AZ) a city located within the Phoenix metro area. Its plan is dependent on the city council’s approval of a license agreement which will allow Google Fiber to access municipal rights of way along public highways to build its infrastructure. The proposal calls for an initial five-year license term with a renewal option. If the deal is approved at the Council’s upcoming July 11 meeting, Church said Google Fiber will “kick off the engineering and operations effort right away and begin construction in Mesa early next year.” The council will also vote on a five-year license agreement for open access fiber infrastructure provider SiFi Networks at the same meeting. Rather than paying a license fee like Google Fiber, SiFi Network’s proposed contract states it would provide certain “in-kind” services to the city, including access to up to 670 demand points across the network and discounted broadband to as many as 33,000 income-eligible households.

A recent analysis of Starlink broadband speeds from Ookla gathers huge numbers of speed tests from across the country. According to the study, the US average download speeds on Starlink have improved over the last year, from an average of 65.72 Mbps in first quarter 2021 to 90.55 Mbps in first quarter 2022. But during that same timeframe, upload speeds got worse, dropping from an average of 16.29 Mbps in first quarter 2021 to 10.70 Mbps in first quarter 2022. It’s likely that some of this change is intentional since internet service providers (ISPs) have a choice for the amount of bandwidth to allocate to download versus upload. It seems likely that overall bandwidth capacity and speeds are increasing due to the continually growing size of the Starlink satellite constellation – now over 2,500. Starlink subscriptions are climbing quickly. The company reported having 145,000 customers at the start of the year and recently announced it is up to 400,000 customers worldwide. This fast growth makes me wonder when Starlink will stop calling the business a beta test.

[Doug Dawson is president of CCG Consulting.]