telecompetitor

5G Millimeter Wave $7.5 Billion Auction 103 Winners Announced

The Federal Communications Commission released the winners in Auction 103 of 5G millimeter wave spectrum in the 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz bands, and it looks like the nation’s largest mobile carriers won the vast majority of the spectrum. The auction raised a total of more than $7.5 billion. The largest winner was Straight Path Spectrum LLC, which won 4,940 out of 14,142 licenses won and which appears to be a bidding name for Verizon. The second largest winner was Fiber Tower Spectrum Holdings, LLC, which won 3,267 licenses and which appears to be a bidding name for AT&T.

Broadband Availability Data Should Improve with Passage of Broadband DATA Act

Broadband availability data should improve with the March 10 passage of the Broadband DATA Act. The legislation now just awaits President Donald Trump’s signature before becoming law. Key provisions of the bill include:

Georgia Activity Highlights Rise of Utility Company Broadband Initiatives

Georgia utility companies have been pursuing opportunities to deliver broadband since the state passed legislation in April 2019 to encourage utility companies to provide broadband services. The latest example comes from Diverse Power Inc. and its internet affiliate Kudzu Networks, who have filed documents with the state public utilities commission regarding the purchase of fixed wireless broadband provider South Georgia Regional Information Technology Authority (SGRITA). Diverse/Kudzu and SGRITA operate in rural areas of the state and serve some of the same counties.

Wisconsin Offers Tax Breaks for Rural Broadband Investments

The newly enacted 2019 Wisconsin Act 128 incentivizes rural broadband investment through targeted tax exemptions. Telephone companies will get an exemption for property used to provide broadband service in rural or underserved areas. Most Wisconsin property taxes are paid to local governments. The telephone company property tax, however, is paid to and controlled by the state. This means that the bill will have no fiscal impact on local governments, according to a press release from WSTA — Wisconsin’s Broadband Association.

Cincinnati Bell, Butler Rural Electric Co-op Deal Signals Growing Interest for Telco Electric Partnerships

A Cincinnati Bell, Butler Rural Electric Cooperative partnership will expand fiber broadband to parts of rural Ohio. The deal highlights the potential growing interest in telco electric partnerships for rural broadband. The Cincinnati Bell, Butler Rural Electric partnership will initially bring Cincy Bell’s Fioptics fiber broadband service to approximately 2,000 Butler Electric members, beginning in late 2020. The offering will include 1 Gig service, home phone, whole-home Wi-Fi, and internet security.

USDA Agriculture Innovation Agenda Could Spur Broadband Usage, Deployment

A new US Department of Agriculture initiative, the Agriculture Innovation Agenda, aims to align resources, programs and research to position American agriculture to better meet future global demands. Although the USDA doesn’t specifically reference broadband as one of those resources, it would seem highly likely that the initiative – if successful — could fuel broadband usage and deployment.

Facebook Terragraph Gigabit Wireless Gains Deployments

Facebook Terragraph gigabit wireless technology is gaining some traction with the news that Puerto Rican competitive carrier AeroNet will pilot the technology in Old San Juan (PR). The development follows other Terragraph deployments in Alameda (CA) and in Hungary. Terragraph works over 60 GHz spectrum, which is available for unlicensed use. It is even higher-frequency spectrum than the millimeter wave spectrum that AT&T and Verizon used for initial 5G deployments – which means it potentially could support higher speeds but over shorter distances.

Areas Receiving ReConnect or State Broadband Support Won’t be Eligible for RDOF Auction

Areas that receive broadband funding through the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) ReConnect program or a state broadband program will not be eligible to receive funding through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). In the RDOF Report and Order, adopted Jan 30 and released publicly on Feb 7, the Federal Communications Commission justified the decision by noting that it was “consistent with our overarching goal of ensuring that finite universal service support is awarded in an efficient and cost-effective manner and does not go toward overbuilding areas that already have service.”

Is Universal Service Fund in Peril? A Close Look at the Budget – and Where the Money Comes From

The percentage of end-user phone bills that go toward the Universal Service Fund (USF) has been climbing and there are serious questions about the sustainability of that funding mechanism, despite a relatively stable USF budget. The money for USF comes from companies that offer interstate and international long-distance telecom services (i.e., voice services). At one time most of the money went toward voice services but over the years, more and more of it has gone towards broadband.

FCC Reports Broadband Unavailable to 21.3 Million Americans, BroadbandNow Study Indicates 42 Million Do Not Have Access

BroadbandNow Research manually checked broadband availability of more than 11,000 addresses using Federal Communications Commission Form 477 data and estimates that 42 million Americans do not have the ability to purchase broadband internet. The FCC's Broadband Deployment Report states that 21.3 million Americans, or 6.5 percent of the population, lack access to broadband internet, including wired and fixed wireless connections. Here’s what we did and how BroadbandNow arrived at this estimate:

Broadband Operator Profile: Tennessee WISP Progressive Broadband Has Ambitious Plans, Including Fiber-to-the-Home

Rural Solutions, which does business as Progressive Broadband, is a wireless Internet service provider (WISP) with ambitious goals. The company, based in rural Tennessee, has big plans for Cumberland county and beyond, including deploying fiber-to-the-home. The company also has made infrastructure choices that are more forward-looking than those that some WISPs initially make, explained Progress Broadband President David Williams.

Broadband Affordability Research: 61% of US Can Get Low-Cost Service But Will This Last?

Sixty-one percent of the US population had low-priced wired broadband available to them in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to new broadband affordability research from BroadbandNow. Researchers defined low-priced service to include offerings priced at $60 or less. This was a substantial increase from the third quarter of 2019, when 52% of the US population had low-priced service available.