Joan Engebretson

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.

A US fiber investment forecast from RVA LLC calls for service providers to spend $125 billion over the next five years, exceeding the total amount that has been invested in fiber since providers first began deploying it. The $125 billion includes money allocated in government programs, said Michael Render, RVA owner and principal analyst. The largest of these programs is the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program created in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

State governments will soon have a big responsibility that will impact the availability of broadband in their states. The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act makes $42.5 billion available for broadband deployments and gives state governments responsibility for awarding those funds. Considering that some states currently have no state broadband office and those that do have an average of 10 staffers, it would appear that the states can use all the advice they can get.

Verizon has set a goal of becoming the only nationwide broadband provider. According to the company, this will be made possible through a combination of Fios fiber broadband, Verizon Home fixed wireless, and satellite broadband service. The company already has Fios available to 16 million locations, which will increase to more than 18 million by year-end 2025, when the company expects to have 8 million Fios internet subscribers.

CostQuest Associates said it has officially been contracted to provide broadband location data needed to update the National Broadband Map. The Federal Communications Commission selected the company months ago but the contract award was delayed because LightBox, another company that bid on the contract, protested the decision. According to CostQuest, the US Government Accountability Office denied the protest in late February 2022.

The metaverse offers opportunities for service providers but will require network advances, according to Meta, formerly Facebook. The company said the metaverse “calls for vast enhancements in capacity and fundamental shifts in how networks are architected and deployed, as well as industry-wide collaboration – from tech companies to mobile operators, service providers, policymakers, and more.” Meta sees three key requirements for the networks required to support the metaverse, including:

In addition to making unprecedented funding available for broadband, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also directed the Federal Communications Commission to study the impact of the new government broadband funding on the Universal Service Fund program. As part of this process, the commission asked stakeholders for their comments on this, and many of those comments – particularly those from service provider associations — had a common thread: The USF program will still be needed, but its contribution system needs reform.