Every year by law the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has to “determine whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.” If not, the FCC “shall take immediate action to accelerate deployment of such capability by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market.” While broadband data is in better shape, there are still critical gaps that mean we don’t have enough data to fully answer the question. The FCC’s broadband deployment maps ask ISPs to submit their maximum advertised speed, when what we really want to know is the expected speed. When advertised and expected speeds differ, it could have a big impact on whether we consider a location to have adequate broadband. Even small differences between advertised and expected speeds could move a location between served, underserved, and unserved. Some states, conscious of this issue, are proposing in their Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program plans to treat fixed wireless (or portions of fixed wireless) as unserved for the purposes of BEAD. In order to achieve technology neutrality, the idea that state and federal subsidy programs need to set guidelines for the speed that they require of new broadband projects, but they should be agnostic to the technology ISPs use to reach those benchmarks we need to actually know the performance of each technology choice. This is what the FCC can do: give us better data on the real-world performance of DSL and fixed wireless so we can be confidently technology neutral moving forward.

A Q&A with Cornell University’s Natassia Bravo and Mildred Warner, Ph.D. Americans’ increasing need for high-speed, reliable internet access has sharpened the digital divide between those who have broadband service and those who do not, and it has driven billions of dollars in federal and state investments. Although state broadband programs have successfully narrowed the divide, questions remain about the effects of state-funded programs, particularly about equity in new connections and funding targets. Bravo and Prof Warner, working in partnership with The Pew Charitable Trusts, examined broadband grants across 17 states from 2014 to 2020 to help policymakers understand the impact of state funding and offer lessons for upcoming federally funded programs. Warner said, "Overall, our analysis suggests that our country needs a broader approach to broadband access and digital equity, which we hope BEAD can work toward addressing."

GoNetspeed is on a fiber deployment spree. The fiber provider accelerated builds in the second half of 2023, with the expectation that by the end of the year it will pass more than 140,000 locations across Maine, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Alabama. In November 2023 alone, GoNetspeed announced new service availability in Portland and Rockland in Maine; Attalla, Alabama; Amherst, Massachusetts and Plymouth, Connecticut. The company also began construction in Thomaston, Connecticut and announced expansions in Connecticut’s Fairfield, Glastonbury, Rockville, Vernon and Watertown. In most markets, GoNetspeed’s competition is typically a cable operator or local incumbent telephone companies. Some competitors have upgraded to fiber, although, CEO Richard Clark noted, “the majority” hasn't. The fiber provider offers 1-gigabit to its residential subscribers today and will be offering 2-gigabit in the first quarter of 2024, according to Clark. Price tiers vary in each GoNetspeed market “to respond to the competitive landscape in which [it’s] operating,” he said.

In a deal between two broadband and telecommunications operators in rural southeast Iowa, Kalona Cooperative Technology Company (KCTC) acquired Farmers & Merchants Mutual Telephone Company (Famtel).The transaction was about two years in the making. The companies had shared ideas over the years and, in October 2022, the KCTC board of directors signed a letter of intent to acquire Farmtel. Changes and adjustments followed, with final approval given by the KCTC board in April 2023 and Farmtel’s board in May 2023. KCTC said that the acquisition will offer existing customers faster speeds, better prices, enhanced service quality through the combination of staffs, and expanded package options. KCTC said that existing packages will not be changed “without customer contact,” but that some subscribers will have the opportunity to migrate to new plans in the future. Farmtel staff will become employees of KCTC.

Israel told Elon Musk his Starlink satellite network will only be allowed to operate in Gaza with Israel's approval, as the entrepreneur met the country’s leaders amid a furore over alleged antisemitism on his social platform X. Musk declared in late October 2023 that his satellite internet service Starlink would “support connectivity to internationally recognised aid organisations in Gaza”, which has suffered lengthy blackouts under Israel’s bombardment. But on November 27, Israeli communications minister Shlomo Karhi posted on X that Musk had “reach[ed] a principle understanding” with the ministry. “Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip,” Minister Karhi said. Musk’s initial commitment to enable Starlink in Gaza sparked a spat with the Israeli government, which argued the connectivity would be used by Hamas for “terrorist activities”.