Network management

Speed tests have barely changed in nearly two decades, even though the way we use the Internet has changed a lot. With so many more people on the Internet, the gaps between speed tests and the user’s experience of network quality are growing. The problem is so important that the Internet’s standards organization is paying attention, too. From a high level, there are three grand network test challenges:

T-Mobile appears to be eyeing a serious move into the US fiber market, confirming plans to offer service in two Colorado cities in addition to its original pilot market of New York City. Open access networks could offer the operator one of the fastest ways to expand its fiber reach. While open-access networks aren’t nearly as prevalent in the U.S. as in Europe, they are slowly beginning to proliferate.

Delaware has been vocal about its universal broadband efforts, as it hopes to become the first state to connect every resident and business with high-speed internet. But there is still work to be done before and after universal coverage happens. Delaware’s Chief Information Officer, Roddy Flynn, has announced that the state's broadband target is now 100/100 Megabits per second (Mbps) speeds for every citizen, up from a previous target of 25 Mbps. The state has set aside $100 million in funding to achieve this goal and plans to focus on building fiber optic infrastructure to support it.

T-Mobile has long been a participant in the Federal Communications Commission's spectrum auctions, which the Commission has used for 30 years to rapidly assign licenses. These auctions fuel the U.S. economy—they’ve returned $233 billion to taxpayers so far, and once armed with this spectrum, wireless companies have spent another $635 billion building out networks.

The groundwork for a well-connected Delaware dates back to 1997 with a pioneering collaboration between the state's departments of technology & information, transportation, and education. The Delaware Department of Transportation constructed extensive fiber for transportation purposes, quickly placing Delaware at the cutting edge of intelligent state transportation systems. This initial public investment in fiber infrastructure also supported a broad array of public institutions.

New York City is shutting down NYC Mesh, a community-run low-cost broadband network that provided affordable internet access to underserved areas. The network relied on a decentralized model where users helped expand it.

City officials in Syracuse (NY) have formally approved a new project to provide heavily discounted wireless broadband to low-income city residents. The plan is being made possible courtesy of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), $123 million of which has been doled out to Syracuse city leaders for various urban improvement efforts. After issuing a request for proposals (RFP) in 2022, Syracuse officials say they’ve selected Community Broadband Networks FLX to help build the fledgling, city-owned network.

Charter Communications came out on top in the latest advertising claim challenge lodged by AT&T. In its response to a challenge plaint from AT&T, the National Advertising Division (NAD) announced that Charter substantiated its "most consistent download speeds" claim for its Spectrum-branded broadband service. AT&T used an expedited challenge process, dubbed Fast-Track SWIFT, to bring this "single-issue" ad case to the NAD.

Telecom carriers and analysts have been talking about lower capital expenditures (capex) for 2023, so it’s no surprise that Dell'Oro Group released a report citing a decline in worldwide telecom spending in 2023. Dell'Oro states that the decline is going to continue for a while.

Some questions about T-Mobile’s Home Internet service remain unanswered, including the cause of a deceleration of subscribers from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2022. However, the analysts at MoffettNathanson took a stab at examining that and other issues related to fixed wireless access (FWA) in a new report. The report is an update of one from a year ago in which MoffetNathanson worked with Opensignal, formerly Comlinkdata, to analyze where FWA subscribers are coming from. Not a lot has changed from a year ago; Opensignal’s estimates of T-Mobile’s FWA subscriber mix show sign