Fierce

AT&T says uplink consumption up 3X among multi-gig, symmetrical users

AT&T rolled out two new multi-gig fiber broadband tiers in late January 2022, including symmetrical 2-gig and 5-gig offerings. AT&T VP of Broadband Technology Management Josh Goodell said the number of connected devices in homes that have adopted one of these plans has jumped by 20% to 30%.

Windstream, Charter score $183 Million in ARPA funding to build broadband in Georgia

Windstream unveiled plans to deploy fiber to more than 80,000 locations across the state of Georgia over the coming years after it was awarded $171 million to complete a number of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant projects. The operator’s Kinetic division is set to partner with 18 different counties in the state to execute the builds. In addition to the funding it won, Windstream said it plans to pump $133 million of its own cash into the projects. Work is set to begin this year and be fully completed by the end of 2026.

AT&T has over 500,000 fixed wireless subscribers, but it’s focused on fiber

Both T-Mobile and Verizon have made quite a big deal about their new fixed wireless access (FWA) offerings. They’re tapping unused capacity on their nationwide wireless networks to offer FWA for home broadband. These offerings will help to provide broadband in underserved areas, and they also give T-Mobile and Verizon a means to steal share from wired telco and cable providers.

AT&T executive: ‘I almost feel bad’ for cable companies up against our fiber

Cable operators have talked a big game about the faster broadband speeds their DOCSIS upgrades will bring, but AT&T EVP of Technology Operations Chris Sambar said he’s not even remotely worried they’ll pose a competitive threat to its fiber products. “I think that to get to DOCSIS 4 they’re going to have to spend a lot of money and I think they know it. I think that’s why I think they keep messing around with multi-gig speeds that are asymmetrical and have terrible uploads,” he said. “I believe we are already ahead of them on multi-gigabit symmetrical.

T-Mobile clashes with 2.5 GHz spectrum owners

T-Mobile’s 2.5 GHz spectrum is not as locked down as most people might think it is. It turns out T-Mobile leases, but does not own, much of its 2.5 GHz spectrum. And at least one private investment firm is reaching out to the owners of the spectrum and making offers to buy it. T-Mobile is always bragging about its “layer-cake” spectrum position with a good combination of low-band, mid-band and high-band spectrum. It’s particularly prone to boast about its mid-band 2.5 GHz spectrum, which it inherited from Sprint.

More states could act after internet service providers lose latest California net neutrality challenge

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dealt internet service providers (ISP) groups a blow, as a three-judge panel upheld the state of California’s right to implement its own net neutrality rules. Analysts at New Street Research tipped the decision to prompt more state action on the issue; Blair Levin of New Street Research argued the ruling opens the door for states with similar views on net neutrality to pass their own regulations.

Charter maps out broadband priorities for 2022

Charter CEO Tom Rutledge mapped out the operator’s priorities for 2022, unveiling plans to accelerate network upgrades and drop some serious cash on rural expansion projects. “2022 will increase the number of projects to deploy high splits in our service areas,” Rutledge said. This shift will allow charter to “comfortably offer” symmetrical gigabit speeds and multi-gig speeds in the downstream, he stated. Rutledge and Charter CFO Jessica Fischer also talked up the operator’s rural build initiative, on which it plans to spend around $1 billion in 2022.

AT&T taps Syniverse ahead of 3G network shutdown

AT&T will shut down its 3G network in February 2022, making way for 5G spectrum and services. But other operators worldwide, whose customers roam onto AT&T, still require the use of circuit-switch fallback, and that’s where Syniverse comes in. On January 25, Syniverse announced, in collaboration with AT&T, the development and deployment of a solution that preserves inbound voice roaming after AT&T phases out its 3G network on February 22, 2022.

AT&T survey finds most consumers aren’t aware of broadband subsidies

As of October 2021, the majority of people in AT&T’s 21-state footprint were not aware of the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program. According to a survey conducted by Recon Analytics on behalf of AT&T, 55% of consumers were not aware of the EBB program. Recon Analytics used Qualtrics to conduct the online survey, which garnered more than 10,000 respondents. Only 12% of respondents were aware of the program and had applied for EBB benefits.

AT&T aims to shave 3 months off fiber build cycle

CEO John Stankey wantsAT&T to condense its fiber build cycle so it can get its broadband products into the hands of consumers faster. His eagerness perhaps comes as no surprise given AT&T lost 20,000 broadband customers in Q4 2021, as healthy fiber net additions failed to offset DSL and non-fiber losses. Stankey said it currently takes about a year from the time AT&T begins engineering work in a new market to the time it is able to begin selling fiber products there.

LightBox CEO says more states are taking broadband mapping into their own hands

With billions in federal broadband funding already in hand and more on the way, a significant number of states are looking to map internet coverage within their borders to get a better understanding of where help is needed according to LightBox CEO Eric Frank. LightBox provides a geospatial mapping service and was previously tapped by officials in Georgia and Alabama to help create detailed broadband coverage maps.

Verizon Fios posts its best full year net adds since 2014

Verizon’s Fios internet net additions may have slowed year on year in Q4, but CEO Hans Vestberg said its total for the full-year 2021 was the highest in more than five years. The operator posted 106,000 total broadband net additions in the quarter, up from 76,000 in Q4 2020. That figure included 78,000 fixed wireless access (FWA) and 55,000 Fios Internet adds as well as the loss of 27,000 DSL customers. While the quarterly Fios figure was down significantly from 95,000 net additions in Q4 2020, full-year Fios Internet gains in 2021 totaled 360,000.

Midco CTIO says fixed wireless is helping it push fiber further

Midco’s chief technology innovation officer Jon Pederson says the operator’s use of fixed wireless access (FWA) technology to serve certain remote locations is actually benefitting its efforts to expand its fiber network. Pederson, who has worked for the regional US broadband provider for more than three decades, explained Midco deploys fixed wireless access service for customers in some of the most remote parts of its footprint. As it runs fiber to new towers for that service, he said it’s also taking the opportunity to push fiber into nearby communities along the way.

Dish, other 12 GHz backers see 5G prospects rise in C-band’s wake

Remember the bit about the 12 GHz band that 5G proponents were using to advance their argument at the Federal Communications Commission? The one about “no federal encumbrances”? That seems to be rising to the top in the wake of all the recent problems associated with C-band spectrum. Granted, the 12 GHz band has its own set of challenges for the 5G for 12 GHz Coalition, which represents Dish Network, among others.

Lumen reels in $1.2 billion contract to overhaul USDA’s legacy network

Lumen Technologies landed a massive $1.2 billion contract with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), setting it up to give one of the biggest government agency networks a major makeover. Zain Ahmed, Senior Vice President of Lumen public sector, said the 11-year task order represents entirely new business for the company. Under the contract, Ahmed said Lumen will “completely transform” the USDA’s network covering 9,500 locations across the country.

Mediacom ends battle with West Des Moines, Iowa, over Google Fiber deal

Mediacom struck a settlement agreement with the city of West Des Moines (IA) to end a more than year-long scuffle over what the operator claimed was an illegal deal between the municipality and Google Fiber. The exact terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but the deal will allow the municipality to move ahead with the construction of a $50 million city-wide conduit network.