Infrastructure
Permitting Council chief says it is gearing up to make BEAD a breeze
Permitting has long been the bane of broadband deployments across the country, but a little-known federal council is working to change that.
Fiber Broadband Association Delivers Geospatial Fiber Planning Tools to Fiber Broadband Community
The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) announced a suite of Broadbandtoolkit.com geospatial planning tools for FBA members to visualize existing broadband deployments and areas of opportunity.
Fiber is Preferred by Nearly Two-Thirds of U.S. Consumers According to New Fiber Broadband Association Research
The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) and RVA LLC Market Research & Consulting (RVA) released an annual consumer research report titled, “The Status of U.S. Broadband: The Growing Preference to Fiber Broadband.” The 2023 study reveals fiber broadband is considered the best internet service delivery method in terms of speed and reliability among 63% of all US consumers, including 54% of cable users.
The Future of Broadband Maps
An AI expert suggested that AI could be used to produce better broadband maps. I had to chuckle at that idea. The primary reason for my amusement is that Federal Communications Commission maps are created from self-reported broadband coverage and speeds by the many internet service providers (ISP) in the country. ISPs have a variety of motivations for how and why they report data to the FCC. Some ISPs try to report accurate speeds and coverage.
RDOF Winner Coalition Requests Emergency Relief, Citing COVID-Driven Cost Increases
The Coalition of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Winners has filed an emergency petition with the Federal Communications Commission regarding its request for extra funding or other relief measures. The group argues that the COVID pandemic has raised deployment costs dramatically and that the funding the companies won is now insufficient.
This 26-year-old federal fund evolved to fight the ‘digital divide.’ Now a court might throw it out.
Over the past 26 years, the Universal Service Fund — a federal subsidy pool collected monthly from American telephone customers — has spent close to $9 billion a year to give Americans better phone and internet connections, wiring rural communities in Arkansas, inner-city neighborhoods in Chicago, and public libraries and schools across the country. Now it faces the biggest crisis of its existence, and Congress appears paralyzed in the effort to fix it.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces Over $700 Million to Connect People in Rural Areas to High-Speed Internet
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) made $714 million in grants and loans to connect thousands of rural residents, farmers and business owners in 19 states to reliable, affordable high-speed internet.
Broadband Basics: How it Works, Why It’s Important, and What Comes Next
Reliable high-speed broadband is essential to life in the US.
FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel Commits FCC to Supporting Hawaii Wildfire Recovery
Having worked for Senator Inouye, I experienced firsthand the kindness and collective spirit of Aloha that guides the people who call Hawai’i home. The agency has staff on the ground in Maui assessing the impact on communications services and infrastructure to help local, state, and federal authorities to identify how to best support restoration and emergency response.
BEAD waiver information coming this summer, NTIA says
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it will release a draft of its requirements for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program spending later in summer 2023, which is expected to include limited exceptions to “Build America, Buy America” rules. The “Buy America” rules require states spend the majority of their federal dollars received through the $42.5 billion BEAD program on American-made materials.