The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it has awarded two grants as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. These grants, totaling approximately $51 million, are awarded to Doyon, Limited and Ahtna Intertribal Resource Commission in Alaska. These grants will fund high-speed internet connections to 581 unserved Alaska Native households across numerous villages in the Doyon region of Alaska and enable high-speed internet adoption in eight Tribal governments of the Ahtna region for activities including telehealth, distance learning, telework, and workforce development. The Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, makes $980 million available for grants to eligible Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian entities for broadband deployment, digital inclusion, workforce development, telehealth, and distance learning. NTIA has now made a total of 46 awards totaling more than $143,066,000 million in funding through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. 

Each year, Congress recesses for the month of August. While the work—or, at least, the news—of Washington generally slows down in this period, all indications are that policymakers—and, most importantly, policy implementors—will be very busy throughout the summer of 2022 working on universal broadband and provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Here's what we're seeing and expecting from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). 

Government subsidies and pandemic-era telecommuting have quietly fueled the growth of broadband fiber networks, propelling the fast connection technology from an exotic, expensive technology niche to the mainstream. In the US, the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment programs encouraged internet service providers to bring higher-speed access to places that previously wouldn't have been profitable to serve. Government support also has helped improve broadband in Sweden, Lithuania, Italy and other European nations. A global pandemic, which turned our homes into offices and schoolrooms, also encouraged the upgrade to faster broadband. Work video conferences and Zoom school lessons demanded more data -- often at the same time -- than we had previously needed. An explosion in the use of streaming video services like Netflix, HBO Max, Apple TV Plus and Disney Plus added to the demand for fiber at home.

At least 14 communities — and potentially more soon — in Colorado have banded together to help establish better broadband access for rural residents of the state, and they recently shared some insights into their work. Members of the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments (NWCCOG) met on August 9 to discuss collaborative efforts. The idea that rural communities are stronger when they work together on broadband was central to the discussion, supported with some concrete examples of where this has been the case in Colorado. At the center of the discussion was Project THOR, which comprises a middle-mile network establishing carrier-class connectivity between various communities across Northwest Colorado, for communities such as Glenwood Springs and Steamboat Springs (CO), along with several towns in counties such as Eagle, Grand, Jackson, Pitkin and Summit (CO). As part of the project, local governments in these cities and towns have hired Mammoth Networks as a network operator to connect over 400 miles of existing public and commercial fiber to provide service to underserved communities.

Leichtman Research Group (LRG) found that the largest cable and wireline phone providers and fixed wireless services in the US – representing about 96 percent of the market – acquired about 670,000 net additional broadband Internet subscribers in second quarter 2022, compared to a pro forma gain of about 1,000,000 subscribers in second quarter 2021. These top broadband providers account for about 110 million subscribers, with top cable companies having about 75.6 million broadband subscribers, top wireline phone companies having about 32.2 million subscribers, and top fixed wireless services having about 2.2 million subscribers. Overall, broadband additions in second quarter 2022 were 67 percent of those in second quarter 2021. The top cable companies lost about 60,000 subscribers in second quarter 2022 – compared to about 840,000 net adds in second quarter 2021. The top wireline phone companies lost about 85,000 total broadband subscribers – compared to about 50,000 net adds in 2021. Wireline Telcos had about 490,000 net adds via fiber, and about 575,000 non-fiber net losses. Fixed wireless/5G home Internet services from T-Mobile and Verizon added about 815,000 subscribers – compared to about 120,000 net adds in second quarter 2021.