Joan Engebretson

As much as 38 percent of rural locations in census blocks reported to have broadband available to them may actually lack broadband, according to USTelecom. The organization, which represents broadband providers, undertook a pilot test earlier in 2019 aimed at addressing problems with Federal Communications Commission broadband availability data as depicted on the National Broadband Map. The results of the USTelecom broadband map pilot have now been filed with the FCC. 

The Federal Communications Commission released a report on the 911 outage originating in CenturyLink’s network that occurred Dec 27, 2018. The findings are the latest example of the risks involved in what the FCC calls the telecom “tech transition.” The 911 outage studied in the report was what is known as a “sunny day” outage – one not caused by weather or other natural disaster.

CenturyLink said that it will invest “several hundred million dollars” in edge computing, following in the footsteps of AT&T and Verizon. AT&T and Verizon both have mobile businesses and with the advent of low-latency 5G networks, they and other mobile carriers are recognizing the need to minimize the distance between mobile users and the cloud. CenturyLink’s entry into edge computing suggests that the edge compute market may be like the fiber backhaul market— a mobile-driven opportunity even for non-mobile carriers.

Frontier Communications CEO Dan McCarthy was not surprised by -- but is not enthusiastic --  about some aspects of the proposed Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), which would essentially replace the Connect America broadband funding program for the nation’s larger price cap carriers. His concerns relate to the proposed reverse auction, which would be used to award program funding. In the Connect America Fund program, price cap carriers had a right of first refusal on Connect America Fund (CAF) support for their local service territories.

At one time it looked like the high-speed broadband network built 10 years ago by EPB (formerly the Electric Power Board) in Chattanooga would be an island of gigabit connectivity, as the state of Tennessee had rather restrictive laws about what types of entities could offer broadband and where. But things have changed, as J. Ed Marston, EPB vice president of marketing, explained in an interview about new EPB gigabit partners. The state now allows municipalities and electric cooperatives to offer broadband, Marston noted.

Rural broadband was a hot topic for the opening session at the Independent Show, an event put on by cable industry organizations ACA Connects and the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) aimed at smaller cable providers. “It’s something everybody realizes they need to do but traditional finances don’t work,” commented Todd Shurz, President and CEO of IN-based cable and broadband provider Schurz Communications, in reference to the higher costs of deploying broadband in rural areas.

Dish Network has agreed to acquire prepaid mobile operations and spectrum from Sprint and T-Mobile. What would a Dish wireless strategy be? Dish’s traditional business of delivering video by satellite has come under pressure as cord-cutting increases, and the company seems to see wireless as the most logical new business area. In 2018, Dish said its initial move into the wireless business is to build a network to support Internet of Things (IoT) applications and that the company eventually would deploy 5G.

Microsoft, Google and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) are urging the Federal Communications Commission to allow co-channel spectrum sharing in the C-band. The proposal would allow fixed wireless operators to use the same spectrum band as incumbent users, who are comprised largely of satellite operators that use the spectrum for their earth stations. The FCC is currently pondering how it might best make a portion of the C-band, comprised of spectrum between 3700 and 4200 MHz, available for wireless services.

The latest Microsoft Airband partner is Watch Communications, which will work with Microsoft to bring high-speed broadband to 50 counties in IN, 22 counties in IL, and most counties in OH. The Microsoft Watch Communications partnership will use a variety of broadband technologies, with an emphasis on fixed wireless operating in TV white spaces. TV white spaces technology uses vacant TV broadband spectrum, incorporating database technology to ensure that broadband providers only use spectrum that is available for unlicensed use in a geographic area.

As the US gets set to ban certain Chinese manufacturers from selling telecommunications equipment to US service providers, CoBank is warning that rural Americans’ access to communications services could be damaged if insufficient funding is available for rural service providers to replace prohibited equipment already installed in their networks.