Diana Goovaerts

States, courts – not Congress or the FCC – could rule telecom policy in 2023

Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will have plenty of telecommunications issues on their plate as the country heads into 2023. Tax breaks for grant funding; ReConnect reform; Pole attachment problems; and perhaps even net neutrality – again. But New Street Research’s Blair Levin said a handful of truly pressing policy issues appear poised to be decided by the states and courts. According to Levin, a recent ruling by the Supreme Court in the West Virginia v.

Q&A: Senator Thune on his new broadband oversight effort

Senator John Thune (R-SD) is no stranger to broadband issues. The senator previously served as Chairman for the Senate Commerce Committee and today helps oversee the telecom industry as the ranking member on the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband. Sen Thune launched a new broadband oversight effort, sending letters to more than 30 industry associations including CTIA, NTCA, NCTA, and WIA, public interest groups, and free market advocates seeking feedback on the current state of broadband regulation. What prompted it?

Massachusetts quest to connect 53 unserved towns is almost complete

Massachusetts officials revealed an effort to close last mile broadband gaps in 53 un- and underserved towns in the western half of the state is nearly complete after seven years of work. Launched in 2016, the state’s Last Mile Program offered grant funding to support co-investment in broadband network rollouts to cover 44 unserved towns in western and central Massachusetts and nine communities only partially served by cable. Governor Charlie Baker (R-MA) said service is now available in all 53 last-mile towns.

Altice USA’s Optimum brand is the focus of a new Connecticut Attorney General probe

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong opened an investigation into Altice USA’s Optimum internet service after hundreds of consumers alleged the operator failed to deliver promised speeds. The probe comes shortly after Tong’s office inked a $60 million settlement deal with Frontier Communications over consumer complaints about its marketing practices. Tong’s office said it received nearly 500 complaints against Altice over the past five years.

California, Texas, Florida tipped to get most BEAD funding

Now that the first version of the Federal Communications Commission’s new broadband map is out, providers across the country are likely scrambling to calculate how much money each state is set to get from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. If estimates put out by industry group ACA Connects are to be believed, California, Texas and Florida are set to get the most support from the program, while Massachusetts, Delaware and Rhode Island will reap the least. Cartesian figures offer a baseline for understanding where funding is likely to be concentrated.

$42.5 billion won’t be enough to close the US broadband gap

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the first version of its new broadband map, marking a major step toward the distribution of $42.5 billion in funding for network expansions across the country. The maps are set to be used by the government to calculate which states will get the most money from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, with more funding going to those areas with the most unserved locations.

Charter, Altice USA find a common enemy in investor-owned utilities

Pole attachment issues are nothing new in the broadband space, but a fresh focal point is emerging in the long-running discussion in this arena: the role of investor-owned utilities (IOUs). Charter Communications and Altice USA both flagged their experiences with such companies in recent filings with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), warning permitting practices implemented by IOUs could slow their broadband deployments by years.

CostQuest says NY locations missing from FCC broadband map a fraction of total count

New York State’s broadband office recently made headlines when it revealed it found more than 31,000 locations missing from the foundational fabric the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is using to produce new broadband coverage maps. But while that figure might seem like a lot, a CostQuest representative said that number amounts to less than 1% of the state’s total location count. The FCC hired CostQuest to provide a map of all the serviceable locations in the country over which the agency could layer coverage data supplied by operators.

Cable One doubles down on fiber with $50 million Ziply investment

Cable One stuck invested $50 million to acquire a minority stake in northwestern US operator Ziply Fiber, part of the $450 million new funding Ziply received. WaveDivision Capital and Searchlight Capital Partners were among the other investors who contributed. Cable One handed Ziply an initial $22.2 million in November 2022 and expects to dole out the remaining $27.8 million before the end of September 2023. The investment netted Cable One less than a 10% equity interest in Ziply. The move is Cable One’s latest in the fiber realm.

Former Rural Utilities Service admin Rupe talks what states can learn from ReConnect program

All across the country, state governments are scrambling to beef up their broadband offices and stand up new grant programs in anticipation of millions in funding from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Chad Rupe, the former administrator of the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service, has advice for states looking to make their broadband programs a success. According to Rupe, there are a few lessons states can take from the success of the ReConnect program as they navigate the path ahead.