Laura Stepanek

A sale with the potential to spur the growth of high-speed bandwidth in some New Mexico markets was announced this week between Charlotte (NC)-based Conterra Networks—a provider of fiber-based telecommunications services to enterprise, carrier, education, government, and data center customers—and Houston (TX)-based Ezee Fiber, a broadband fiber provider. The transaction involved Conterra Networks selling its Santa Fe, Rio Rancho and Los Lunas, New Mexico, fiber assets and network to Ezee Fiber.

A new report based on a huge data pool from more than 400 regional broadband service providers pinpoints a benchmark to achieve with subscriber churn. Less than 3 percent annual churn is the target to aim for, reported by 45 percent of respondents.

An $11 million investment in regional infrastructure is planned to bring high-speed, low-latency connectivity to more than 6,600 locations in western Maine. These are sites that either don’t currently have access to the internet or have access to slower broadband or copper-based connections. The funding for the project, which entails building more than 450 miles of fiber, was announced by FirstLight, a provider of digital infrastructure services. The Maine Connectivity Authority made the agreement with FirstLight to receive the funding.

Satellite-based communications businesses have been making news recently, including a brand-new start-up.

Charter Communications, SpaceX’s Starlink, and Verizon announced how they are providing free internet and wireless phone communications—and financial and other resources—to residents in areas affected by Hurricane Helene. Charter announced that last week it had opened close to 90,000 Spectrum out-of-home Wi-Fi access points in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and bordering areas.

Starlink has added a $100 “congestion charge” to certain new subscribers of their Residential Services. The one-time fee applies to new service plans within areas of “network congestion.” The Support section of the Starlink website provides details of the new charge. “In areas with network congestion, there is an additional one-time charge to purchase Starlink Residential services.

A digital equity grant awarded to Internet2 will be used to enhance the capabilities of Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Tribal libraries. Internet2 is a nonprofit community of more than 2,000 organizations that works to provide advanced technologies that are oriented for research and education.

In the past five years, FOCUS Broadband has gone from deploying fiber connectivity to just two North Carolina counties to eight, nearly doubling its number of customers from 36,000 to 63,000.

Announcements of GoNetspeed fiber market launches have been coming at a rapid pace. GoNetspeed President and CEO Richard Clark said the company has been able to do this thanks to its reliance primarily on private funding. “By privately funding our infrastructure, we are able to build at a faster pace with access to additional resources.

A North Carolina company is becoming recognized not only for its network expansion throughout the eastern part of the state but for its unique public-private partnerships that are bringing fiber-to-the-home in rural, underserved counties.