1. Monthly archive
  2. April 2019

April 2019

The digital divide is worse than we thought

The lion’s share of discussion around the digital divide has centered around access, but the prices rural consumers are paying for the services available to them are worth paying attention to as well. According to our research, roughly 146 million rural Americans do not have access to a low-priced plan for wired broadband internet. That’s nearly 45 percent of the US population. We define “low-priced” as a broadband plan with a monthly cost less than or equal to the 20th percentile of all plan prices, or around $60 per month.

MoffetNathanson Analysts Question Verizon 5G Spectrum Strategy: Company Needs Mid-Band Spectrum, But Where Will It Come From?

Verizon needs mid-band spectrum for 5G, but could have difficulty obtaining it, argues a new research note from telecom financial analysts at MoffettNathanson.

Speech

Protect Privacy in Maine

Benton Foundation

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Municipal Fiber-Optic Networks Grow In Number Across US

Residents in Falmouth (MA), like residents in many communities in Massachusetts, have begun to look toward fiber as a means to ensure faster and more reliable Internet service. Falmouth would be the first Cape Cod town to build a municipally owned fiber-optic network. Similar projects in towns across MA are underway or completed. Westfield Gas & Electric’s Whip City Fiber division is in the process of connecting 20 small rural towns to a fiber-optic network in Western MA. The fiber is already live in Alford and Otis.

One Size Does Not Fit All

One of the first decisions a community needs to make in bringing broadband to residents is what sort of network to operate. Should the network be closed, with one Internet service provider providing service to residents; open and lit, providing the basic infrastructure for potentially competing ISPs; or open with dark fiber leased to competing ISPs? All three models have their proponents and detractors. In my experience and opinion, no one model is ideal for every community. Each option impacts how a community will build and operate a network, and each has advantages and disadvantages.

Finding Middle-Mile Connections

The disadvantages inherent to rural towns – geography, low population density and lack of fiber density – compound one another to make sourcing middle-mile transport unusually difficult for rural municipalities. In addition, incumbents that might provide backhaul generally aren’t thrilled with the prospect of losing market share. They may view municipal network initiatives as competitive threats and resist working with municipalities on sourcing middle-mile transport and/or lobby to fight them in their quest to modernize.

Why Did Arkansas Change Its Mind on Municipal Broadband?

Arkansas is the least connected of the 50 states. Since 2011, the state has banned cities and towns from building their own networks, outlawing a local solution that has been hailed as an effective way for communities to connect themselves when they don’t have internet providers. In 2019, however, AR appears to be having a change of heart. Under the weight of constituent complaints about lousy internet—and after years of waiting for subsidies to goad telecommunication giants into expanding the infrastructure—the state legislature in Feb passed a bill to repeal its ban.

Columbus, Mississippi, Network Quashed Courtesy of Big Cable and Telecom Lobby

Local communities in the state of Mississippi have the legal authority to develop publicly owned Internet networks and offer broadband, or any other utility, to the general public. When it comes to bonding in order to financing deployment for broadband infrastructure, however, the law isn’t as cut and dry. In order to stay on the right side of the law, the community of Columbus (MS) decided to obtain permission from the state legislature to issue bonds for a $2.75 million expansion of their existing fiber optic network.

© 1994-2024 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.