Infrastructure

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, December 13, 2023:

Pulse—the city’s community-owned, cutting-edge internet network—has reached a milestone with the completion of its Loveland capital construction. With an investment of nearly $110 million and a meticulously managed four-year timeline, Pulse’s network construction stands as the largest capital project in the city’s history. Persevering through the challenges posed by a global pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and severe inflation, the project crossed the finish line on time and on budget, thanks to the unwavering determination of over 250 local Pulse employees and contractors.

Houston (TX)-based Ezee Fiber is investing $200 million in the continued expansion of its high-speed, 100% fiber optic network in Fort Bend County, a fast-growing area in southeast Texas. The investment pushes forward the company’s plans to reach an additional 125,000 Fort Bend County homes in 2024. The high-speed fiber internet is expected to be available to residents of Mission Bend, Sugar Land, Missouri City, Pearland and surrounding communities by the end of the third quarter of 2024.

RiverStreet Networks, a sister company of rural provider Wilkes Communications, has received a $191.1 million loan from CoBank that will go, in part, to refinance legacy US Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service financing and, in part, to deploy fiber broadband in rural areas of North Carolina and Virginia.

Fiber internet provider Kinetic plans to make 70% of Colquitt County (GA), or more than 17,000 homes and businesses, “fiber ready” in 2024 in a $32.5 million public-private partnership. Some 40% of the county, or more than 9,700 homes and businesses, including in county seat Moultrie, are already eligible for Kinetic’s fiber broadband, which provides internet speeds of up to 8 gigabits per second.

President Joe Biden announced what he called a “big step” toward internet for all, rolling out a $42 billion investment to deliver broadband to unserved and underserved communities. “With this funding, along with other federal investments, we’re going to be able to connect every person in America to reliable high-speed Internet by 2030,” President Biden said of the funds, allotted through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The telecommunications industry has been adding fixed wireless access (FWA) subscribers at a clip of between 900,000 and 1 million per quarter over the past five quarters, according to New Street Research. And the analysts say, “We expect similar results over the next two quarters, with T-Mobile targeting around 500,000 per quarter and Verizon targeting 375,000-400,000 per quarter.” FWA has claimed more than 80% of industry broadband adds in the U.S.

Here’s what to expect at the Federal Communications Commission's December open meeting.

• We’re going after junk fees that harm consumers and hamper competition.
• We’re cracking down on illegal robotexts.
• We’re making smartphones more accessible to consumers with hearing loss.
• We’re removing barriers to broadband deployment.
• We’re improving health care in rural communities.
• We’re protecting consumer data.
• We’re protecting local TV programming.
• We will also consider an item from our Enforcement Bureau.

In response to claims that Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding wouldn't amount to much, Jeff Luong, VP of Network Engineering at AT&T said that the combination of public funds in addition to private investments will be a lot of money that will allow for “the industry, and us as a country, to expand connectivity.” Asked what he would recommend to states that are trying to figure out the best solution, Luong said, “The best way for states to approach that challenge is to create a process, a system that encourages as many providers to participate as possible.

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program differs from previous federal broadband programs because it promised to allocate the funding to individual states and allow them to figure out the best way to distribute the funds. Once states receive their broadband funding, they still have to set up a mechanism to request proposals from internet service providers, grade the proposals that come in, and o