Doug Dawson

I constantly see articles that make claims about the percentage of homes that have broadband, cable TV, or telephone service. Any time I see a statement like that, I ask the question—how many total homes are in the U.S.—a number that is needed to calculate a penetration rate. There doesn’t seem to be any consensus on that question. I’ve tackled this exercise periodically and have never gotten close to having a satisfactory answer.

We don’t need any more delays in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant process, but there are potential delays on the horizon due to the political calendar. What do I mean by political calendar? There is going to be a new president in the White House, and that means a change in many of the people who run various cabinets and agencies. It could mean a new head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is run by an Assistant Secretary of Commerce.

There has been a strike by 17,000 union members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) against AT&T that started on August 16. Like most strikes that last for more than a week, there is some rhetoric flying from both parties accusing the other side of negotiating in bad faith. Telecommunications strikes have been part of the history of the industry.

I've identified some concerns with the order for the new 5G Fund for Rural America that will provide $9 billion to improve rural cellular coverage.

The Federal Communications Commission announced it will move forward with the 5G Plan for Rural America. Since the FCC seems determined to move forward with the current maps and seems to be on a fast track to initiate the 5G plan, there should be a sense of urgency in any County that thinks it needs better cellular coverage.

The Federal Communications Commission recently released a short document that highlights the benefits that come from the Universal Service Fund. The FCC touts the following benefits from the Universal Service Fund:

Broadband subscriber additions from the first two quarters of 2024 give us an insight into some industry trends. Cable companies are starting to lose an increasing number of customers. Fixed wireless access (FWA) cellular carriers collectively added 933,000 customers in Q2. Telephone companies collectively showed a small gain for Q2, although all of the telephone companies reported significant fiber sales. 

There are a lot of folks who think there will be substantial Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) spending in 2025. I don’t want to burst bubbles, but I just can’t see that happening. Like every other part of the BEAD process, there are delays coming that are going to drive folks crazy.

Nokia recently announced that it is introducing radios that will increase both the capabilities and performance of fixed wireless access (FWA) cellular broadband. The technology that probably will have the most impact on wireless performance is the use of MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) antenna arrays. Nokia recently announced that it will be deploying Massive-MIMO antennas that will allow for 16 layers of data transmission, up from 4 layers deployed in today’s cellular antennas. These coming improvements are going to mean better performance for FWA.

The results of a recent Technology Policy Institute study feed into the narrative that is rolled out every year by the lobbyists for the biggest internet service providers (ISPs)—that broadband prices are getting cheaper. The big ISPs mean that the price per megabit is getting cheaper—but the study says the absolute prices are getting cheaper. The easiest way to understand my objection is to consider the price of a 100 Mbps broadband product from 2013 to 2024.