Multichannel News

Greg Walden Gives Advice on How To Win Broadband Funding

Former House Commerce Committee Chairman Freg Walden (R-OR) has a simple answer for small cable operators that are hard pressed to know how to navigate the bureaucratic quagmire to broadband finding: get to know the decisionmakers. He said that to win those funds, small operators are going to have to learn how their state government machinery works. “[E]ach state is going to be a little different, some will be better staffed and ready for this money,” Walden said.

Analysts See Cable’s Broadband Growth Slipping as Wireless Momentum Continues

MoffettNathanson joined the recent chorus of a steeper-than-anticipated slowdown in broadband subscriber growth for the second quarter of 2022, expecting large operators like Comcast and Charter Communications to report less than half the customer gains they did in the first quarter, while wireless customer additions are anticipated to maintain their recent upward momentum. After its purchase by SVB Financial Group, MoffettNathanson was required to reinitiate its coverage of the sector, and on July 12 it did just that.

CTA Says FCC Receiver Mandates Could Stifle Innovation

Big Tech companies are continuing to try and head off any Federal Communications Commission effort to establish what they said would be 'one-size-fits-all" standards for 5G receivers that would work against the FCC's goals of an innovative 5G environment. The FCC in April 2022 opened an inquiry into setting wireless receiver standards, one of several routes the FCC could take, alone or in tandem, to protect signals in increasingly crowded spectrum bands, a roadmap laid out by FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel.

Fixed Wireless Could Add 10 Million Subscribers by 2027

Fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband could add more than 10 million subscribers in the next five years, driven by programs geared toward rural markets, according to Wells Fargo telecom and media analysts Eric Luebchow and Steven Cahall. The analysts predict that total broadband subscriber additions will accelerate to 4.5-to-5 million annually in 2023 and 2024, fueled mainly by FWA and fiber overbuilds. Over the next five years, Luebchow and Cahall predict FWA will rise from 7.1 million total subscribers at the end of 2021 to 17.6 million in 2027.

'Intentional' Should Be in Definition of Digital Discrimination, Say Wireless Internet Service Providers

Fixed wireless internet service providers represented by the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) are telling the Federal Communications Commission that intention to discriminate should undergird any rules meant to prohibit digital access inequity based on race, ethnicity, income, religion, color, or national origin. It also says rules should be tech-flexible. That came in comments on the FCC's inquiry into its legislative mandate to come up with rules that promote digital equity by eliminating discrimination in broadband deployment and access.

ISPs Drop Challenge to California Net Neutrality Law

Lobbying groups representing broadband internet access service providers—including ACA Connects, NCTA, CTIA and USTelecom—dropped their challenge of a federal district court's ruling upholding California's net neutrality law. The ISPs had already lost a federal district court challenge to the law and two appeals court efforts to block enforcement. The suit was dismissed without prejudice, which means ISPs could refile it if they chose.

Black Churches Back Tech Neutral Broadband Buildouts

The Conference of National Black Churches, along with five other groups representing Black clergy and congregations, has called on the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) to allow the $40 billion-plus broadband subsidy money it is handing out to states to be used for whatever technology -- fiber, wireless, etc. -- best fits their communities. That came in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and NTIA administrator Alan Davidson.

US appeals court will not reconsider California net neutrality ruling

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals will not reconsider its decision in January to uphold California's net neutrality law. California's 2018 law barred internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic, or offering paid fast lanes, but it only took effect in 2021.

ACA Connects to NTIA: Maps Before Broadband Equity Money

Smaller and mid-sized cable/broadband operators are telling the Biden Administration not to hand out billions of dollars in broadband subsidies to the states until there are better broadband deployment maps, and when they do hand it out, to make sure it goes to unserved areas first.

Comcast To Spend $32.6 Million To Expand Fiber Network in Oregon, Utah

Comcast said that it will spend nearly $33 million to extend its fiber network in two communities in Oregon and Utah, a move that is expected to bring about 23,000 additional homes and businesses under the Xfinity service umbrella. In Utah, Comcast said it will expand service to more than 18,000 homes and businesses in Eagle Mountain City (UT) over the next four years. The cost of the project will be about $22 million and will not use any public funds.

Consumer Reports: FCC Should Investigate Internet Service Provider Equipment Charges

Consumer Reports (CR) is telling the Federal Communications Commission that, according to many of its members, some cable and telecom broadband operators are continuing to charge for modems or routers even when consumers are using their own equipment and the agency should investigate.

How Long Can the Fiber Boom Last?

With practically every telecom and cable company moving to step up their fiber buildout plans over the next few years, MoffettNathanson senior analyst Craig Moffett wonders if the recent acceleration in construction was indeed too much, and whether telecom and cable companies will be able to justify the cost.