Bernie Arnason

Frontier has ambitious fiber goals, which include about 3 to 4 million homes that will probably require government subsidy to reach. CFO Scott Beasley said Frontier intends to be active with government funding programs to do just that. “We want to compete for subsidies on all of that 3 to 4 million homes and if you take a step back and think about our purpose which is build gigabit America, I mean that’s why we’re excited to build,” he said. Of course, Frontier is no stranger to government funding programs for broadband.

Frontier reported quarterly results and no surprise, all the focus is on fiber. The legacy telecom carrier is attempting a fiber-first transformation after emerging from bankruptcy in 2021. The company now touts a Building Gigabit America strategy and it’s seeing positive momentum in the turn around. The company added 50,000 residential fiber broadband subscribers in second quarter 2022, which is 4 times better than a year ago. Frontier added 281,000 new fiber locations and raised its total 2022 fiber location build guidance to 1.1 – 1.2 million locations by the end of 2022.

AT&T CEO John Stankey recently offered subtle hints about AT&T’s potential participation in broadband infrastructure funding programs. But he wasn’t coy about presenting AT&T as a good partner with the states, who will be key in doling out billions in funding. AT&T was proud to report its fiber broadband progress this quarter, having added 316,000 net new fiber subscribers in second quarter 2022.

West Virginia Gov Jim Justice (R-WV) announced preliminary approval for close to $21 million in funding for six broadband infrastructure projects in the state. Comcast was the largest winner of this latest West Virginia broadband funding.

David Finn of Google Fiber outlined the company’s embrace of the open access model for broadband. Finn, a director of corporate development at Google Fiber, highlighted the company’s recent open access partnership in West Des Moines (IA) and a previous example with the public utility in Huntsville (AL) as examples of how they are using the model to expand broadband access. Google Fiber is now finalizing a similar partnership in Vermont that could potentially reach over 100 thousand rural residents.

Charter Communications updated investors during its first quarter 2022 earnings call and offered some insight on the impact of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program on the operator. Charter was the largest RDOF auction winner,  measured by the number of locations. The cable company won $1.22 billion to bring service to over one million locations in 24 states.

Verizon was a pioneer in fiber broadband with its Fios product, having launched it well over 15 years ahead of the fiber frenzy we now find ourselves in. Fios was very much the heart of Verizon broadband, but that appears to be changing. Today, and from all indications, the future of Verizon broadband is very much centered on its emerging fixed wireless business. Out of the 229,000 net broadband adds Verizon gained in Q1 2022, roughly 85 percent came from fixed wireless. In 2021, fixed wireless only accounted for 20 percent of the company’s net broadband adds.

Windstream announced that it has received authorizations from the Federal Communications Commission to receive a total of $523 million from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), which the carrier sees as a springboard for growing through public-private partnerships (PPPs). The funding will help Windstream extend broadband to approximately 193 thousand locations across 18 states. RDOF is an FCC program offering funding to help cover the cost of expanding broadband to the unserved, and eventually, the underserved.

Zayo announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Nashville-based Education Networks of America (ENA), a provider of managed network services to the education and public sector verticals. ENA targets K-12, higher education, healthcare, library, and government organizations with a variety of network services, specializing in E-Rate funded programs. E-Rate is a program funded through the Universal Service Fund, providing funding to school systems and libraries for connectivity and other technology. ENA has a national reach.

A new AT&T free Internet plan will leverage the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), offering speeds of up to 100 Mbps symmetrical where available. The Access from AT&T program used to offer a 10 Mbps plan for $5 to $10 per month. AT&T says those plans will remain, but customers can opt-in to the new free Internet plan leveraging the ACP. Customers can also apply ACP funds towards mobile service provided through AT&T prepaid or Cricket Wireless plans.