Bernie Arnason

AT&T President of Operations Scott Mai, confirmed AT&T nationwide 5G plans, saying that, by this time next year, the carrier will have nationwide coverage for 5G, albeit with a somewhat liberal view of what nationwide means. To AT&T, nationwide 5G coverage means 200 million pops covered, which leaves a lot to be desired when talking nationwide in geographic terms. AT&T’s definition can be achieved by targeting major metros only. The plan includes:

Verizon outlined its strategy for revenue and profitability growth in 2019 and beyond, built on the expansion of its network leadership in the 5G era. Discussion items included:

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai addressed the NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association membership, and discussed a 5G future that is very much about wires and not just wireless, and promising for rural markets. “I’ve consistently said that the 5G future isn’t necessarily a wireless one, it’s actually a wired one,” Chairman Pai said.

A Verizon separation plan will reduce the company’s payroll by 10,400 employees, almost 7 percent of its workforce. The plan was announced earlier in 2018 and the reductions are part of a voluntary program to reduce Verizon’s headcount as they embark on a 5G focused restructuring. Since recently taking over the CEO helm, Hans Vestberg has embarked on a restructuring of the company, with a focus on seizing the 5G opportunity and reducing Verizon’s emphasis on legacy services. 

Verizon fixed 5G service officially launched Oct 1 in Houston (TX), Indianapolis (IN), Los Angeles (CA), and Sacramento (CA). The new residential broadband option could open up a new era in broadband competition. Or not. Built on Verizon’s own TF network standard, the fixed 5G service is gigabit capable and starts with an uncapped 300 Mbps tier for $70 per month to non-Verizon wireless customers and a discounted $50 per month to current Verizon wireless customers with a qualifying smartphone plan.

The Federal Communications Commission announced the conclusion of the Connect America Fund Phase II (CAF-II) auction, which offered $1.98 billion in funding for rural broadband. The bidding began July 24th. The FCC will issue a public notice in a few business days outlining the results. Winning bidders have agreed to provide broadband service at the lowest cost in unserved and underserved areas in 20 states, formerly served by larger price cap carriers (although those same carriers could conceivably be the auction winner).

Charter unveiled Spectrum Mobile, the cable company's mobile wireless service. The new Wi-Fi first mobile service looks to be closely following the Xfinity Mobile model, which was also expected. Spectrum Mobile offers two plans: an unlimited data option for $45/month, or a by-the-gig approach for $14 per gigabyte (GB) of data, per month. Spectrum mobile matches Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile pricing for unlimited, but does charge $2 more per gig than Xfinity’s $12 per gig model, at $14 per GB.

Comcast and Charter announced a joint venture that will fuel both cable company's' continued move into the mobile broadband ecosystem. The partnership will focus on developing and operating backend systems that support both Xfinity Mobile and Spectrum Mobile, signaling a more committed effort for cable MSO-based mobile offerings. Each company will continue to operate their own mobile brands and their own customer-facing sales and marketing operations.

North Dakota is somewhat of an anomaly in today’s broadband world, where so many lack access to high quality broadband. The largely rural state has some of the best, if not the best, state-wide fiber connectivity in the country. It’s about to get better. Dakota Carrier Network (DCN), a regional fiber network operator owned by several independent telcos, has committed to enable a 100 Gig backbone for the network that serves schools, colleges, and government agencies by 2019.

New rural broadband funding is included in the $1.3 trillion congressional omnibus bill. The bill calls for an additional $600 million to be distributed through the Rural Utilities Service (RUS). The funding authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to create a pilot program within RUS that distributes the new funding in the form of grants and loans. There are details to be worked out, but the authorization calls for “expedited” delivery of the program. A few conditions were mandated by the funding bill. They include: