Cable companies Charter Communications and Comcast have each raked in at least $100 million in state broadband grants in 2022, leading the pack of operators scrambling to secure government funding for expansion efforts. However, their standing could very well change with subsequent waves of funding. Public announcements show Charter has won at least $170.8 million so far this year, with Comcast hustling along right behind it, with a total of at least $121.6 million in broadband grant awards so far in 2022. Analysts have previously argued that state-fueled broadband expansions could help cable operators boost flagging subscriber growth. However, competitors such as Verizon, Altice USA, and others remain competitive in the arena of state and federal grant acquisitions, alluding to the potential for a shifting leaderboard in the near future. Competition among these companies is only set to increase, as the $42.5 billion federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant ramps up for distribution. The federal government has expressed a clear preference for fiber optic projects, which could see further shifts in grant allocation among internet service providers. 

Broadband internet access has been slow to reach rural communities, but the Town of Nichols in Tioga County (NY) is addressing this through an open-access fiber network. Called "Nichols Fiber,"  the network could close the gap and bring the town reliable internet service. Any internet service provider (ISP) will be able to use the fiber to serve customers in Nichols. The pandemic thrust the digital divide into the spotlight and led many to embrace broadband as a vital utility essential to economic development. Large ISPs don’t build into rural areas with low population densities because the customer base isn’t large enough to meet their bottom line. Nichols has a population of under 2,300 people, and under 1,000 households. The first provider to commit to serving Nichols is Fiberspark, a small Ithaca (NY)-based ISP that currently just serves around 700 households. The network in Nichols is a test case — one of four projects happening under New York’s $1 billion ConnectALL initiative, which was launched in early January 2022 to expand broadband access in the state. The Southern Tier Network (STN) is the nonprofit in charge of building the fiber network.

T-Mobile and Space X announced their “Coverage Above & Beyond” partnership to bring about the “end of mobile dead zones.” It is one of a growing number of announced partnerships, ventures and rumors of similar nature and purpose of expanding the frontier of connectivity where it hasn’t gone before. “Coverage Above & Beyond” promises to provide satellite-based cellular connectivity directly to T-Mobile’s current smartphones thereby providing coverage anywhere in the U.S., its territories, as well as the vast unregulated oceans. However, much of the technical burden seems to rest on the shoulders of SpaceX that will have to develop a new generation of LEO satellites capable of satellite-to-device communications. T-Mobile will be lending a sliver of its mid-band PCS 1900 MHz spectrum for the service. Yet, the fact remains that T-Mobile and SpaceX are not the first to partner or invest in providing satellite-to-handset cellular services. The burning questions are the commercial viability of this partnership in an industry plagued by bankruptcy, and whether this endeavor, which involves the development of a new platform, makes commercial sense for SpaceX. Time will tell. 

[Leonard Lee is founder and managing director of neXt Curve, a research advisory firm focused on Information and Communication industry and technology research.]