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…
Middle Mile
Everstream Increases Footprint 80% in 2021
Business-only fiber network Everstream grew to nearly 27,000 miles of route fiber during 2021, increasing its footprint 80% from the previous year. The company invested $600 million in its expansion, building nearly 2,000 route miles of fiber in new and…
FCC Precision Ag Task Force Recommendations Would Expand Broadband Buildout Requirements
At the same time that the government is making unprecedented funding available for broadband, it also is considering setting more ambitious broadband goals. A new set of ambitious goals came this week from the FCC Precision Agriculture Task Force which,…
C Spire Completes Fiber Route Connecting Mississippi and Alabama
C Spire has finished the two-plus years, multi-million-dollar construction of a 225-mile-long fiber optic cable route from Kiln, Mississippi to West Mobile, Alabama, the company announced. Alabama consumers and businesses represent a critical portion of C Spire’s $1 billion investment…
Broadband Industry Innovator Series: Middle Mile Infrastructure as a Springboard
In this next installment of Telecompetitor’s Broadband Industry Innovator video series, I speak with Sean Middleton, Director of Strategy and Operations, at Finley, about the importance of middle mile infrastructure for utilities and their potential telco partners. The issue is…
Behind the AlCan ONE Network: Small Telco, Big Results
Small telcos can sometimes do astonishingly big things. Case in point: MTA Fiber Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alaskan telecom cooperative MTA that is responsible for the creation of AlCan ONE, the first-ever terrestrial fiber network connecting Alaska with…
Broadband Infrastructure Bill Draft: No FCC Auctions, No Symmetrical, $42.5B for Networks
A draft of the Senate infrastructure bill shows $40 billion in broadband funding going to individual states to go toward the cost of deploying broadband to unserved or underserved areas. The program would target areas lacking service at speeds of…
New Rural Broadband Deployment Model: MCNC Partners with Facebook on North Carolina Build
Facebook and MCNC, the non-profit operator of the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN) are “co-investing” to build a high-speed fiber network interconnecting the rural North Carolina communities of Dobson and Forest City. The latter community is home to…
IFN Raises New Capital; Rural Electric Investment Paves Way to Telco, Utility Broadband Partnerships
Intelligent Fiber Network, the statewide Indiana fiber network that until now was owned by 20 Indiana telcos, has raised $13 million for network expansion and gained another owner. Wabash Valley Power (WVPA), an Indiana-based not-for-profit generation and transmission cooperative, and seven…
Facebook’s Middle Mile Infrastructure Subsidiary to Offer Fiber Transport, Eyes Underserved Markets
Facebook is getting into the fiber transport business. The social media giant requires a tremendous amount of network capacity to deliver all those social posts, ads, and videos all across the globe. As a result, Facebook owns and operates a…
Compromise Farm Bill Would Raise USDA Broadband Loan and Grant Budget
The House of Representatives and the Senate have reached a compromise on the 2018 Farm Bill that would raise the annual budget for USDA broadband loans, loan guarantees and grants to $350 million from 2019 to 2023 and allows funding…
Exec Details C Spire Electric Utility Partnership to Build Fiber Network
A C Spire electric utility company partnership announced today aims to bring more than 300 miles of fiber to remote areas of Mississippi. The partnership with Entergy Mississippi calls for C Spire to build and own the network, with Entergy…
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