Infrastructure

Report on the Effectiveness of the Broadband Interagency Coordination Agreement

The Federal Communications Commission, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) (collectively, the Agencies) entered into an interagency agreement to share information and coordinate for the distribution of funds for broadband deployment. The FCC’s experience with the Interagency Agreement, as well as the record, demonstrate that the Interagency Agreement has significantly facilitated efficient use of federal funds for broadband deployment.

Broadband in paradise faces a special set of problems, island experts say

Peter Dresslar, a broadband and digital equity consultant for both the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and American Samoa, is of two minds. While he knows that the Federal Communications Commission is working as hard as it can to deliver accurate broadband maps to the country, some of the oversights in the mapping of the Pacific Territories have been darkly comic.

Five sources of federal funding that are fueling broadband investment.

Here is an overview of the major federal funding vehicles for broadband that are helping to fuel the broadband investment cycle and are aimed at closing the digital divide so that all Americans have access to high-speed, reliable, affordable broadband:

Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s Response to Members of Congress Regarding the Commission’s Efforts to Develop an Iterative National Broadband Map

On December 22, 2022, members of the US Senate wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel urging the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to extend the deadline to submit location and availability challenges to the FCC’s broadband maps by at least 60 days, or until March 14, 2023.

How to Line Up BEAD Matching Funds: Experts Offer Advice

The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program has $42.5 billion to invest in rural broadband. But that funding is not expected to cover the full cost of making broadband available to unserved areas. That’s where matching funds come in. Program rules call for network operators seeking BEAD funding to use other funding sources to cover at least 25% of project costs, except in the highest-cost areas. States have the option of setting the minimum even higher. Where can networks get matching funds? 

FCC Investigates Broadband Providers Over Coverage Claims

The Federal Communications Commission is investigating whether broadband-service providers exaggerated their level of coverage to authorities preparing to distribute billions of dollars in subsidies. At issue are claims by carriers that they already provide high-speed internet service to rural and other underserved areas where it’s not actually available. The Biden administration is awarding $42.5 billion to increase access in these locations. Areas served and unserved are being marked on a map compiled by the FCC.

Full fibre to reach half of homes, as competition drives better broadband

As construction of the UK’s new broadband backbone continues, full-fibre internet will reach half of UK homes in March 2023. Full-fibre broadband is better broadband. It’s more reliable, and many times faster than the average ‘superfast’ connections people have largely used in recent years. Just five years ago, only 6% of homes could get full fibre. But thanks to competition and investment from network builders, that had reached 42% by September 2022. Based on current data, Ofcom now expects the 50% threshold to be passed in March, and to reach more than 80% within the next two years.

Why is New York City Removing Free Broadband In Favor of Charter?

In January 2020, former-Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NY) announced New York City’s Internet Master Plan, setting a path to deliver broadband for low-income New Yorkers by investing in public fiber infrastructure.

Delphi, Indiana, broadband project officially begins, fiber to hit county in coming weeks

Delphi's (IN) fiber internet project, Broadway Broadband, officially broke ground.

Connecting Vermont: Broadband rollout making progress

Private and public partnerships are helping 214 Vermont towns get hooked up to broadband through a communications union district (CUD). Per Vermont statute, CUDs can’t be funded by general obligation bonds. There are 10 CUDs in the state and more than $124 million has been deployed in state and federal funding.

Biden-Harris Administration Invests $63 Million in High-Speed Internet in Rural Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Mississippi

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $63 million to bring high-speed internet access to people living and working in rural areas in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Mississippi. The investments include funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The $63 million in grants comes from the third funding round of the ReConnect Program, in which USDA invested a total of $1.7 billion. The four projects being funded are:

Sens. Capito, Klobuchar Reintroduce Rural Broadband Protection Act

US Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) reintroduced the Rural Broadband Protection Act (S.275), which would require a more thorough vetting and verification process for internet service providers seeking to participate in the Federal Communications Commission's high-cost programs. The bill would provide essential safeguards to the Universal Service Funds' (USF) high-cost programs by ensuring that funding goes to companies with both a proven track record of success and have demonstrated sound judgment in deploying in hard-to-serve areas.

CSU and EDA announce a planning grant for enhancing broadband in rural Colorado through CSU’s Extension offices

The US Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration awarded $301,030 to the Colorado State University (CSU) System for a planning grant to promote and enhance economic development in rural Colorado.

‘BEAD without equity is just BAD,’ NTIA official says

Broadband expansion is the goal of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant program, but the initiative won’t be successful without a sufficient focus on digital equity and community engagement, said NTIA officials.

Lets Stop Talking About Technology Neutral

I want to take on the phrase ‘technology-neutral’. This phrase is being used to justify building technologies that are clearly not as good as fiber. The phrase was used a lot to justify allowing Starlink into the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) reverse auction.

Digital Equity LA Summit Pushes CPUC to Ditch Priority Areas Map

As Los Angeles County officials work with community coalitions to improve high-speed Internet access in underserved communities across the region, the Digital Equity LA Summit focused on the challenges ahead: urging state officials to fix the broadband priority maps the state will use to target where to invest $2 billion in state broadband grant funds with the state months away from receiving over a billion additional dollars from the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. Representing the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) were Michael Mullaney, Preside

Missing Pieces: How the FCC’s Broadband Map Misrepresents Public Libraries

The Federal Communications Commission recently released a “pre-production” draft of its new National Broadband Map in an effort to provide more precise details about where internet service does and does not exist in individual locations across the US. While much attention has been paid to how the map represents broadband service for individual households, there is much less understanding among the general public with regards to how the map represents individual community anchor institutions, such as public schools, libraries, and hospitals.

AT&T Gets Set to Cohabit in Frontier Central Offices

AT&T and Frontier have signed a deal that will enable AT&T to deploy wireless infrastructure in Frontier's central offices. The deal also calls for AT&T to purchase fiber connectivity to connect with cell towers that are in Frontier’s network.

WIA and Corning to Launch Pre-apprenticeship Program for Fiber Optic Careers Development, Helping Build the Broadband Workforce of the Future

The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) and Corning Optical Communications, a subsidiary of Corning Incorporated, announced a new collaboration to promote awareness of careers in the fiber optic field and provide access to industry-recognized training through WIA’s Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP). Through this collaboration, Corning will establish a TIRAP-approved pre-apprenticeship program to help individuals gain access to meaningful, well-paying careers in the telecommunications industry.

The South Korean case of deploying rural broadband via fiber networks through universal service and public-private partnerships

Despite broadband being an essential infrastructure for conducting basic socio-economic activities and reducing inequality and the digital divide, expanding broadband coverage in rural areas remains a significant challenge in many countries due to high deployment costs.

State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Helping Communities Recover from the Pandemic

The State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) provided under President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act continue to play a crucial role in allowing county governments to stabilize their budgets, respond to the pandemic, and invest in their communities.

BEAD Grants for Small Pockets of Customers

One of the most interesting aspects of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grants is that the funding is intended to make sure that everybody gets broadband. There is one section of the grant rules that talk about how the funding can be used to serve areas as small as a single home:

Partnering to Bring Broadband to Underserved Communities in Upstate New York

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of broadband internet connectivity became glaringly obvious for many people. As offices, schools, and businesses closed and stayed shuttered for weeks and in some cases months, many people worked or learned remotely – and continue to do so. Now is a critical time to address the issue of community broadband deployment in New York – and at the same time, enable the transition to clean energy.

Digital Discrimination

The Federal Communications Commission recently opened a docket, at the prompting of federal legislation, that asks for examples of digital discrimination. The big cable companies and telecoms are all going to swear they don’t discriminate against anybody for any reason, and every argument they make will be pure bosh. If people decide to respond to this FCC docket, we’ll see more evidence of discrimination based on income. We might even get some smoking gun evidence that some of the discrimination comes from corporate bias based on race and other factors.