Joan Engebretson

As the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) gears up to administer the $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) rural broadband infrastructure funding program, NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson gave an update at a Washington (DC) event on April 13. Among many broadband infrastructure funding topics discussed, Davidson seemed particularly upbeat about progress with the $1 billion Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program, which is a component of the larger $65 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

One-third of T-Mobile fixed wireless access (FWA) subscribers are in rural areas, according to an estimate from telecom financial analysts at MoffettNathanson. It’s a surprising finding, considering that the analysts estimate that only 6 percent of locations that can get T-Mobile fixed wireless are in rural areas. Forty-four percent of T-Mobile fixed wireless subscribers are in urban census blocks, which represent 74 percent of locations that can get T-Mobile fixed wireless, according to the estimates.

Charter said it has applied to receive $21 million in funding through the Tennessee Emergency Broadband Fund – American Rescue Plan program to cover the majority of the costs for a rural broadband build in Henderson County (TN). The company has become quite aggressive on rural broadband, which it sees as an opportunity to gain broadband and video subscribers in markets with little or no competition. The company was one of the biggest winners in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) rural broadband auction.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) should prioritize funding for fiber broadband in rules for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, said NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association and the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) in a letter to Alan Davidson, head of NTIA, which will be administering the BEAD program in conjunction with individual states. NTCA and FBA recommendations for the BEAD program include:

Seven technology industry associations sent a joint letter to the Senate majority and minority leaders urging the Senate to confirm Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] as the fifth Federal Communications Commissioner. Associations signing the letter included service provider groups INCOMPAS and NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association, as well as the Consumer Technology Association, Chamber of Progress, CompTIA, Computer & Communications Industry Association, and Internet Infrastructure Coalition.

The Illinois Electric Cooperative (IEC) said it will use funding received through the Connect America Fund II (CAF II) auction to deploy fixed wireless in rural Pike County (IL). IEC will use technology from Ericsson and Xtreme LTE for the deployment, which will use the CBRS spectrum. The companies did not indicate whether the spectrum to be used is in the licensed or unlicensed portion of the band. Fixed wireless technology has made big gains in recent years, and both LTE and CBRS spectrum were key developments to boost speeds and performance.

Although fixed wireless is getting a lot of attention these days, the technology is not in Frontier’s plans “in a material way,” said Frontier Chief Network Officer Veronica Bloodworth, adding “we’re a fiber-first company.” Bloodworth is part of a new Frontier management team put in place as the company emerged from bankruptcy.

CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association Gary Bolton has regularly argued that federal broadband funding should not be going to SpaceX because the satellites have a limited life, and he recently reiterated that view saying he hoped the Federal Communications Commission would not approve SpaceX’s winning bids in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction.

In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission, broadband service provider associations urged the FCC not to complicate the consumer labels that will be required at the point of sale for broadband services.

The way T-Mobile sees it, about 40 percent of the US population lives in smaller markets and rural areas – and the company expects to see strong growth in those areas moving forward. Those markets now represent one-third of the company’s net account production, even though the company is still deploying service to those markets and currently has service available to only about one-third of the small and rural markets in the US, said Peter Osvaldik, T-Mobile executive vice president and chief financial officer. Those new accounts are “very high-quality accounts,” Osvaldik added.