Network management

Several states have already announced that there will be multiple rounds of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program grant applications. This makes a lot of sense for states that will be receiving a significant amount of BEAD funding.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission recently ordered a series of public hearings to investigate the quality of service on the CenturyLink copper networks. The hearings were prompted by a complaint filed by the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The complaint listed the failures of CenturyLink to meet state service standards due to the deterioration of the copper network. CWA also noted that CenturyLink is planning to eliminate half of the remaining technicians who work on copper.

The hardest question I get asked by counties and cities is how to know if they can trust an ISP to fulfill its promises. I suggest a series of questions that makes them dig deeper into the real nature of a given ISP and why they want the local funding.

Many cable companies boast about having more fiber than coax in their outside plant, and according to recent research from Omdia, those numbers are expected to dramatically increase over the next decade. “Forty-three percent of MSOs have already deployed PON in their networks,” said Jaimie Lenderman, Principal Analyst and Research Manager at Omdia covering the Broadband Access Intelligence Service. “It’s split between the largest and smallest providers. Middle-sized organizations are expected to deploy PON in the next 12 to 24 months or longer.” 

One of the broadband products that quietly emerged during the pandemic is a suite of products that enable corporate broadband to safely be used at home. IT directors of large companies were aghast when a large percentage of staff were sent home to work and instantly wanted full access to the same systems and functionality that they used in the office. One of the key linchpins of corporate data security has always been to limit access to corporate networks from outside the physical confines of the office.

Frontier Communications is all heads down as it works to reach its target of deploying fiber to 10 million locations by the end of 2025. That said, it’s also got an eye on the horizon beyond that goal, with executives saying that subsidy dollars or a potential joint venture (JV) could help it expand further. CEO Nick Jeffery added it would also entertain an open-access network deal to reach more locations. “In terms of open access infrastructures generally, if there is one available that we could use, yes, we’d look at it,” he said. “It can be a capital smart way of operating.

AT&T and Frontier have signed a deal that will enable AT&T to deploy wireless infrastructure in Frontier's central offices. The deal also calls for AT&T to purchase fiber connectivity to connect with cell towers that are in Frontier’s network.

The Federal Communications Commission recently opened a docket, at the prompting of federal legislation, that asks for examples of digital discrimination. The big cable companies and telecoms are all going to swear they don’t discriminate against anybody for any reason, and every argument they make will be pure bosh. If people decide to respond to this FCC docket, we’ll see more evidence of discrimination based on income. We might even get some smoking gun evidence that some of the discrimination comes from corporate bias based on race and other factors.

Alaska Communications expanded broadband availability and boosted speeds to almost 5,000 homes in the Interior region of the state in 2022. The company used a wide range of last-mile technologies – from XGS-PON to fixed wireless, even some DSL — to achieve that. The Alaskan Interior can be thought of as the center of the state – the area most removed from the state’s lengthy coastline. Much of the area is wilderness.

The Common Ground Alliance (CGA) recently issued its 2021 Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT). The goal of the CGA is to highlight and reduce damages done to all utilities when working underground. Here are the current trends discussed in the DIRT report: