Fierce

Minnesota broadband director talks weather and topography challenges, funding strategies

Despite Minnesota being known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” it’s not short of geographical constraints when it comes to building broadband. Bree Maki, director of Minnesota’s Office of Broadband Development, said the state has some key deployment challenges, including weather and workforce constraints.

Charter buys Maine Broadband Provider Bee Line, invests $82 Million

Charter Communications is flexing some muscle in Maine in the face of growing fiber coverage from the likes of Consolidated Communications. Charter plans to invest a total $82 million over the coming years and scooped up Bee Line Cable to flesh out its footprint in the central part of the state. Bee Line boasts 300 miles of fiber cable, which it uses to serve internet and digital voice products to consumers in Anson, East Millinocket, Farmington, Industry, Madison, Millinocket, Skowhegan, and Wilton.

T-Mobile told to quit advertising ‘most reliable’ 5G

The National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs advised T-Mobile to stop advertising that its wireless service has the most reliable 5G network based on tests by umlaut, a third-party testing company. The claims in question were made on T-Mobile’s website and in press releases.

ABI: 5G fixed wireless access set to rival wired broadband

ABI Research’s latest report on the state of the fixed wireless access (FWA) market forecasts that 5G FWA subscriptions will reach 72 million by 2027, representing 35% of the total FWA market five years from now. LTE FWA services are already widely deployed worldwide, but they often can’t provide the speeds required to compete with wired broadband connections.

SpaceX accuses Dish, RS Access of pivot in 12 GHz tussle

A SpaceX filing with the Federal Communications Commission prompted the 5G for 12 GHz Coalition to say “hold on a minute” and reiterate its mission to make spectrum in the lower 12 GHz available for terrestrial 5G services. Citing reports by New Street Research, SpaceX said in a March 21 filing that Dish and RS Access, the latter of which it described as “Michael Dell’s Personal Family Trust,” have “abandoned their quest to have the [FCC] hand them new rights for high-powered terrestrial mobile services in the 12.2-12.7 GHz (12 GHz) band.” Bu

Here’s where Verizon is building new Fios connections

Verizon is planning to build 500,000 new Fios passings in 2023 as it works to increase its overall footprint to 18 million locations. The company is “actively building” in all nine of the states where it already offers Fios service. Verizon has recently laid out plans to pass more than 70,000 new locations in Massachusetts, nearly 2,000 in Delaware, 1,500 in upstate New York, and 349 in Virginia.

Buy America poses threat to US fiber deployments

In his recent State of the Union address, President Joe Biden said all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects — and he specifically mentioned fiber optic cables — must be made in America. On its face, that sounds like a nice policy that even Democrats and Republicans can agree on.

Bluepeak invests $55 Million to advance fiber rollout in Oklahoma

Bluepeak struck a franchise agreement with the City of Norman, Oklahoma, to bring fiber service to nearly 55,000 residents and businesses. The operator is pouring $55 million in capital into the buildout, marking Bluepeak’s largest investment in a single market outside of South Dakota. Asked what made Bluepeak select Norman as its next expansion target, an representative said proximity was a key draw.