Monday, January 30, 2023
Headlines Daily Digest
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Regional fiber rollups may scream monopoly, but it’s complicated
An Iowa Town’s $60 Million Plan to Span the Broadband Gap
New York City Mayor Adams Highlights Broadband in State of the City Address
Broadband Funding
State and Local
Platforms/Social Media
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Broadband Funding
With all of the recent buzz about fiber players getting prepared for acquisitions and incumbents expected to gobble up billions in forthcoming government funding, it’s not a far stretch to wonder if the rollup will result in less broadband competition across the country. But according to two leading telecom analysts, this is very unlikely to be the case post-mergers. And even if there is less competition, it likely won’t impact the quality or pricing of fiber to the consumer, they said. Roger Entner of Recon Analytics predicted that, even if a fiber rollup occurs, pricing will actually go down, not up. “The $42.5 billion in BEAD money will help build out really large parts of the United States that don’t have fiber or broadband right now,” explained Entner. To New Street Research's Blair Levin, it’s clear that a fiber rollup won’t change the core facts of the modern moment: there is more competition for broadband than there has ever been before. “If the argument was that a rollup would lessen competition, I would say, ‘I don’t think so.’ If the argument is, ‘We should have more competition,’ I would say great, but how are we going to do that?”
In 2020, West Des Moines (IA) entered a partnership with Google Fiber, the super-fast internet service that Alphabet offers in several US cities. But unlike previous cities that have participated in the decade-old initiative, West Des Moines is building the fiber conduit network itself, in exchange for Google Fiber promising to lay its fiber lines in front of every home and business in the city — not just in areas the company believes will be profitable. Additionally, the conduit network is not being built only for Google: The city can lease space in the multi-lane tunnels to several internet providers, who will feed their own fiber lines through the existing conduit. It’s a model called open access infrastructure, wherein a public entity builds shared infrastructure for private companies to offer competing services.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams outlined a “Working People’s Agenda” in his second State of the City address. Under the Working People’s Agenda, the Adams administration will expand the Big Apple Connect program to reach even more New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments with free broadband and TV for tens of thousands of New Yorkers. The administration will also rovide free broadband access to households with Section 8 vouchers with a new pilot program in the Bronx and Northern Manhattan.
On January 18, 2023, the i2Coalition filed an amici brief with the US Supreme Court in Gonzalez v. Google LLC, pointing out Section 230’s foundational role in allowing the Internet’s infrastructure to function efficiently and effectively without the threat of crippling litigation. Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 is one of the pillars of intermediary liability law, which protects a large variety of both providers and users of “interactive computer services” from being held liable for “information provided by another information content provider” –i.e., third party content–as defined in the statute. The question presented for the Court to consider in Gonzalez asks whether Section 230 shields “interactive computer service” providers when they make so-called “targeted recommendations” of third-party content. The i2Coalition’s brief demonstrated that Section 230’s express words provide no basis for excluding the automated operation of algorithms–instructions to computer systems–from Section 230 liability protection. We explained that a myriad of companies throughout the Internet ecosystem, including those providing its technological infrastructure, depend upon algorithms to classify, organize, process, and transmit all sorts of data, and that these functions do not alter Section 230(c)(1)’s protection of those companies. Finally, we pointed out that any reconsideration of the policy direction of this law is the proper role only of Congress, not the Court.
Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) is urging Congress to move the nomination of Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] to be the fifth member of the Federal Communications Commission. Her nomination has been held up for two years because not enough Democrats could be lined up to hold a Senate vote. The nomination failed to be reported favorably by the Commerce Committee, which was tied to advancing it to the full Senate. “It is outrageous that the FCC has gone without a full slate of commissioners while the nomination of the supremely qualified and prepared nominee, Gigi Sohn, languishes amidst lies and homophobia,“ Markey said. “The work of the Commission — from net neutrality to closing the digital divide — is too important for this nomination to be delayed any further. Gigi Sohn is President Biden’s nominee, and Congress should confirm her as soon as possible. As a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and a longtime advocate for advancing telecommunications equity and access, I will continue to fight back against baseless attacks and push for swift confirmation.”
Charter Communications reported financial and operating results for the three and twelve months that ended December 31, 2022. Fourth quarter residential Internet customers increased by 92,000, compared to an increase of 172,000 customers during the fourth quarter of 2021. Spectrum Internet delivers the fastest speeds in Charter's footprint. Charter offers Spectrum Internet products with speeds up to 1 Gbps across its entire footprint. Charter's Advanced Wi-Fi, a managed Wi-Fi service that provides customers with an optimized home network while providing greater control of their connected devices with enhanced security and privacy, is available to nearly all Spectrum Internet customers. During the fourth quarter of 2022, Charter added 615,000 mobile lines, compared to a growth of 380,000 during the fourth quarter of 2021. Spectrum Mobile is available to all new and existing Spectrum Internet customers.
Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org) and Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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