A draft of permanent rules for the Affordable Connectivity Program is circulating within the FCC and has been made public. The news came just days after the commission launched the program with interim rules, and the draft of the permanent…
By: Joan Engebretson
NTIA Seeks Comment on Implementing BEAD, Other Broadband Funding Programs
The NTIA is seeking input on implementing three broadband funding programs that were established in the infrastructure bill signed into law in November. In a 14-page request for comment (RFC), NTIA asks for input on 36 questions pertaining to the…
CEO: Lumen Plans Fiber Deployment Rate of 5x its Historical Rate
Lumen’s plan to increase locations reached by fiber from the current 2.5 million to 12 million represents a five-times increase over the company’s traditional deployment rate, noted Lumen President and CEO Jeff Storey on a webcast with investors today. Those…
Charter Demonstrates 8.5 Gbps DOCSIS 4.0 Downstream Speeds
Charter has demonstrated speeds exceeding 8.5 Gbps downstream and 6 Gbps upstream on hybrid fiber coax infrastructure, according to a press release from Vecima Networks, which supplied the DOCSIS 4.0 system on a chip (SoC) for remote MACPHY device (RMD)…
With Latest C-Band Delay Resolved, Verizon Has Big 5G Ultra Wideband Expansion Plans
Verizon said today that it plans to have 5G Ultra Wideband service available to 100 million people in more than 1,700 cities nationwide in January. The announcement came on the heels of the news that wireless carriers had reached an…
Cable One Forms Clearwave Fiber Joint Venture: Rural Broadband is a Priority
Cable One has gained some new investors through a complex deal that involves the creation of a joint venture to be known as Clearwave Fiber. Cable One will own the majority of the joint venture, which will include Cable One’s…
FCC Launches $14.2B Affordable Connectivity Program, Replacing EBB
The FCC has launched the Affordable Connectivity Program, which will pay up to $30 toward the cost of monthly broadband service for low-income households ($75 for tribal recipients). The Affordable Connectivity Program has a budget of $14.2 billion and replaces…
Top Telecom Broadband News of 2021
If you believe every cloud has a silver lining, then the silver lining of the COVID-19 cloud was a sweeping change in attitudes toward broadband and the recognition that it’s something all Americans truly need today. This attitude change drove…
Experts Don’t Expect Accurate Broadband Map Until 2023
The federal government is making an unprecedented amount of funding available for broadband deployments but still doesn’t know where broadband is and isn’t available. And according to broadband mapping experts on a webcast yesterday, we are unlikely to have an…
NTCA Member Survey Confirms Rural Consumers Are Adopting Faster Broadband Speeds
More than half of rural residents (55.4%) served by broadband service provider members of NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association have gigabit speed service available to them and more than three quarters can get 100 Mbps service, according to a new NTCA…
Ookla: Starlink Satellite Broadband Median Speeds in Decline, Short of RDOF Goal
The median download speed seen by users of Space X Starlink satellite broadband in the U.S. in the third quarter was 87.25 Mbps, according to Ookla, provider of a widely used speed test app. That was a decline from the…
Texas City Targets Low-Income Households for ARPA-Funded Fixed Wireless
The City of Amarillo, Texas plans to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to build a fixed wireless network targeting low-income households. We talked to Rich Gagnon, the city’s managing director and chief information officer about the fixed wireless…
