Joan Engebretson

Only one-quarter of developed US census blocks have two or more providers of 100 Mbps broadband, according to a broadband competition report from INCOMPAS – and according to the competitive carrier association, competition is even less than that finding would suggest because the finding is based on Form 477 data collected by the Federal Communications Commission. Virtually everyone agrees that the Form 477 data overstates broadband availability.

Is the $20 billion budget allocated by the Federal Communications Commission for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) enough to meet rural broadband deployment goals?

It’s been about a decade now since EPB, the public electric utility in Chattanooga (TN), made headlines with plans to make gigabit broadband available to all citizens. As gigabit service becomes more commonplace, there is a real question whether gigabit alone is enough to create the next Chattanooga.

Could Microsoft be planning gigabit fixed wireless deployments – perhaps through service provider partners participating in the company’s Airband rural broadband program?

What is Standalone 5G? While non-standalone 5G shares existing core network infrastructure with 4G, the standalone version uses a new, cloud-native approach to the network core. Standalone 5G is designed to boost 5G performance in two important ways. First, it will provide lower latency in comparison with the non-standalone approach, which should enable it to support real-time and near-real-time applications such as autonomous vehicles and augmented and virtual reality.

The Federal Communications Commission released the winners in Auction 103 of 5G millimeter wave spectrum in the 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz bands, and it looks like the nation’s largest mobile carriers won the vast majority of the spectrum. The auction raised a total of more than $7.5 billion. The largest winner was Straight Path Spectrum LLC, which won 4,940 out of 14,142 licenses won and which appears to be a bidding name for Verizon. The second largest winner was Fiber Tower Spectrum Holdings, LLC, which won 3,267 licenses and which appears to be a bidding name for AT&T.

Broadband availability data should improve with the March 10 passage of the Broadband DATA Act. The legislation now just awaits President Donald Trump’s signature before becoming law. Key provisions of the bill include:

Georgia utility companies have been pursuing opportunities to deliver broadband since the state passed legislation in April 2019 to encourage utility companies to provide broadband services. The latest example comes from Diverse Power Inc. and its internet affiliate Kudzu Networks, who have filed documents with the state public utilities commission regarding the purchase of fixed wireless broadband provider South Georgia Regional Information Technology Authority (SGRITA). Diverse/Kudzu and SGRITA operate in rural areas of the state and serve some of the same counties.

A new US Department of Agriculture initiative, the Agriculture Innovation Agenda, aims to align resources, programs and research to position American agriculture to better meet future global demands. Although the USDA doesn’t specifically reference broadband as one of those resources, it would seem highly likely that the initiative – if successful — could fuel broadband usage and deployment.

Facebook Terragraph gigabit wireless technology is gaining some traction with the news that Puerto Rican competitive carrier AeroNet will pilot the technology in Old San Juan (PR). The development follows other Terragraph deployments in Alameda (CA) and in Hungary. Terragraph works over 60 GHz spectrum, which is available for unlicensed use. It is even higher-frequency spectrum than the millimeter wave spectrum that AT&T and Verizon used for initial 5G deployments – which means it potentially could support higher speeds but over shorter distances.