CCG Consulting

What About Competition?
In comments made to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the recent docket looking at customer service practices, the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) filed comments that said that big internet service providers (ISPs) don’t focus on customer service because they don’t have to. The CPUC said that only 26 percent of California residents have a choice between two fast ISPs.

A New Source of Broadband Funding
The Eliminating Barriers to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility (E-BRIDGE) Act, was signed into law in early January as part of the ‘larger Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (S. 4367). This bill authorizes the Economic Development Administration (EDA), which is part of the Department of Commerce, to award economic development grants to public-private partnerships or related consortiums to implement broadband infrastructure projects.

Who Owns the Internet?
A recent article published by the Russian Foreign Affairs Council (RFAC) claimed that some of organizations that engage in Internet governance have a clear U.S. bias.The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) responded, saying the claims are false. This all sounds like worldwide politics in action, but it raises a good question—who owns the Internet? There is no easy answer to that question.

Internet Service Providers React to $15 Rates in New York
AT&T announced that it will withdraw its 5G home Internet product in New York rather than comply with the law that requires it to offer broadband rates as low as $15. The law went into effect recently when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal for the New York law approved by the New York legislature in 2018.
FCC Mapping and Engineers
Congress created the new Broadband Data Collection (BDC) maps with the passage of the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act (the Broadband DATA Act). This created the requirement for the new mapping system that replaced the old system of reporting maps called the 477 process. One of the requirements of the Broadband DATA Act is that internet service providers (ISPs) have to engage a professional engineer to certify that the data submitted to the FCC is accurate.

AT&T to Retire Copper
AT&T has made it official that it plans to shut down copper networks everywhere except California by the end of 2029. This is not exactly news since the company has been quietly shutting down copper all over the country. California is a special situation because the California Public Service Commission has never deregulated AT&T as a local telephone company and the state is going to make AT&T prove to it that customers will not be stranded when the copper comes down. AT&T says it will offer an alternate technology to customers—either fiber or wireless.

BEAD Spending in 2025
I’ve seen some vendors speculating that the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is finally going to unleash a big pile of spending in 2025. I don’t want to be the one to burst their bubble, but even if the BEAD grants continue to move on the current path, there will not be a big wave of construction from BEAD this year.

When To Use In-Kind Matching
A lot of internet service providers (ISPs) that seek grant money take advantage of in-kind matching rules. In-kind contributions recognize non-cash benefits of property, goods, or services that will benefit a grant project. Many grant programs allow in-kind matches to be used in calculating the matching funds being provided by a grant applicant.

Measuring Internet Adoption
We supposedly have a decent handle these days of the number of locations that can buy broadband due to the Federal Communications Commission broadband mapping and data collection effort. While some folks will argue about the accuracy of the FCC's National Broadband Map, we know a lot more than we did just a few years ago. The map is supposed to disclose where internet service providers (ISPs) are capable of serving, but not where they have customers.