Network management

Charter expands 200 Mbps starter internet speed to 95 percent of its footprint

Charter Communications continued a multi-year march to double the entry-level speed available on its Spectrum Internet service, rolling out 200 Mbps service in more than three dozen new markets. The 37 markets where the faster service is now available cover more than 5 million homes and include Bakersfield (CA), Bangor (ME), Binghamton (NY), Dayton (OH), and Green Bay (WI).

Cox Moves to Overturn $1 Billion Music Suit

Lawyers for Cox Communications will begin oral arguments on March 9 in the appeal of a $1 billion copyright infringement award that it says is not only wrong on a legal basis, but could upend the entire broadband industry if it is allowed to stay.

Is High-Speed Internet Access Getting More Affordable, Really?

A recent report by BroadbandNow made the rounds in February 2022, with the authors concluding that the average price for broadband access across all major speed tiers for Americans has fallen, by an average of 31 percent or nearly $34/month, since 2016. At a glance, this is great news – perhaps affordable Internet access for all is within reach? Yet the reality is that this report from BroadbandNow, unfortunately, poorly frames the national broadband marketplace.

Comcast Increases Internet Speeds For Most Customers From Maine Through Virginia

Comcast announced that it has increased speeds for its most popular Xfinity Internet tiers, providing an extra boost for millions of residential customers across 14 northeastern states from Maine through Virginia and Washington (DC).

2021 Network Report

After hitting historic peaks in 2020, traffic on the Comcast network grew again in 2021. Data show a gradual shift throughout the year toward pre-pandemic traffic patterns. This included peak downstream traffic once again increasing faster than upstream traffic, and peak usage times shifting from earlier in the day to later in the evening. Peak downstream (download) traffic increased 11 percent over 2020 levels, while peak upstream (upload) traffic increased 5 percent.

US vs Russia for the future of the internet

US officials are stepping up a campaign to defeat a Russian candidate for a United Nations agency that could determine how much control governments have over the internet. Russia's designs on the little-known agency raise the stakes for what the Russian government's vision of the internet could mean for the rest of the world, especially following its

FCC Launches Inquiry into Internet Routing Vulnerabilities

The Federal Communications Commission released a Notice of Inquiry seeking comment on steps that the FCC should take to protect the nation's communications network from vulnerabilities posed by the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). The Department of Homeland Security warned US organizations at all levels that they could face cyber threats stemming from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The proposal would begin an inquiry into the vulnerabilities of the Internet’s global routing system.

Faster Symmetrical Bandwidth and Lower Latency are Needed for the Metaverse, Says Meta

The metaverse offers opportunities for service providers but will require network advances, according to Meta, formerly Facebook. The company said the metaverse “calls for vast enhancements in capacity and fundamental shifts in how networks are architected and deployed, as well as industry-wide collaboration – from tech companies to mobile operators, service providers, policymakers, and more.” Meta sees three key requirements for the networks required to support the metaverse, including:

What We’ve Learned About Upload Bandwidth

Until the pandemic hit, I rarely thought about upload bandwidth. I mostly used upload bandwidth to send files to people, and I rarely cared if they received the files immediately – I was happy as long as files got sent. But the pandemic changed everything for millions of people.

Public-Safety Broadband Network: Congressional Action is Required to Ensure Network Continuity

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) is responsible for establishing a nationwide public-safety broadband network. In this report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified four key statutory requirements and contract responsibilities currently performed by FirstNet that Congress should address before FirstNet would sunset in 2027. For example, FirstNet oversees the network contract awarded to AT&T in 2017. The current statute does not identify another federal entity to assume oversight when FirstNet sunsets.

What is ‘good’ digital infrastructure? Measuring digital infrastructure to maximize development outcomes and mitigate risks

Do current measurement tools suffice in capturing the positive development impact of digital infrastructure and provide a lens through which to assess its potential downside risks? The inquiry focused primarily on payments, identity, and data exchange technologies—which together are commonly referred to as the “digital stack” and recognized as foundational components of any national digital transformation. Major findings include:

How Regional ISPs are Bridging the Digital Divide Through Innovation

Regional internet service providers (ISPs) in the US have a clear role to play in closing the digital divide – here are four key business model factors that they can consider to enable network build and services more quickly:

Frontier fires up network-wide 2-gigabit fiber internet service

Frontier stuck to a promise to roll out its first multi-gigabit service tier in Q1 of 2022, debuting a 2-gig internet offer that is available across its entire fiber footprint. The company plans to make the new service tier available to all of the new locations it builds to as its plan to expand to 10 million locations by the end of 2025 unfolds. The new plan is priced at $149.99 per month.

Could the FCC Make Video Streamers Pay Into the Universal Service Fund?

The Federal Communications Commission is starting to get input on its examination of the future of the Universal Service Fund (USF). That input includes whether to make internet service providers (ISPs) pay into the fund, as telecommunications companies currently do, given that the baseline advanced communications service that USF is paying for is increasingly broadband rather than the phone service the program was designed for. Also on the table is whether to make streaming services pay into the subsidy given that they are riding that broadband service into homes.

Sens Markey and Wyden Urge FCC to Promote Communications Network Resiliency

Sens Edward Markey (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission expressing support for the agency’s recent notice of proposed rulemaking to enhance the resiliency of communications networks during emergency situations. Strong action by the FCC is necessary to address the growing threats to communications networks created by extreme weather, natural disasters, including wildfires, and climate change-related events, which are increasingly causing more frequent and severe service disruptions.

What Comes Next? A Community-Centered Approach to Legacy Network Retirement

On February 10th, Next Century Cities released "What Comes Next? A Community-Centered Approach to Legacy Network Retirement," a paper that advocates for the Federal Communications Commission to revisit consumer-protection safeguards to guide legacy telecommunications network retirement.

FCC Announces Supply Chain Reimbursement Program Applications Filed

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced the applications filed for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. The Reimbursement Program received 181 applications and, upon initial review by the Reimbursement Program Fund Administrator, the gross cost estimate demand for Reimbursement Program support contained in the applications initially found eligible and acceptable for filing is nearly $5.6 billion.

California Public Utilities Commission denies petition by Dish to stall CDMA network shutdown

In what’s described as a “proposed decision,” California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Administrative Law Judge Karl Bemesderfer has denied a petition by Dish Network that seeks more time in migrating CDMA customers off T-Mobile’s network. In a filing in early February 2022, the CPUC said the decision by ALJ Bemesderfer has no legal effect “until and unless” the commission hears the item and votes to approve it. The item may be heard, at the earliest, at the California commission’s March 17 meeting. But it essentially signals defeat for Dish at the CPUC level on this item.

A Comparative Analysis of Fixed Broadband Speeds in Cities Across the World

This report by George Ford at the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies compares fixed broadband speeds in US cities to speeds in cities in other, higher-income nations. The data include fixed broadband speeds for 4,480 cities across the globe (910 in the US) from 98 nations. Across multiple comparisons, the report finds that the US has equal or higher download speeds—often much higher—than do other comparator countries.

FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel Notifies Congress of Demand for Rip and Replace Program

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel notified Congress that providers have initially requested approximately $5.6 billion from the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to cover the costs of removing, replacing, and disposing of insecure equipment and services in US networks. “We’ve received over 181 applications from carriers who have developed plans to remove and replace equipment in their networks that pose a national security threat," said Rosenworcel.

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.

Jitter – A Measure of Broadband Quality

Most people have heard of latency, which is a measure of the average delay of data packets on a network. There is another important measure of network quality that is rarely talked about. Jitter is the variance in the delays of signals being delivered through a broadband network connection. Jitter occurs when the latency increases or decreases over time. We have a tendency in the industry to oversimplify technical issues; we take a speed test and assume the answer that pops out is our speed.