On November 23, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released new rules, as required by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, establishing the Affordable Connectivity Program Transparency Data Collection, which will collect information related to the price, subscription rates, and plan characteristics of the internet service offerings of Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) participating providers. The FCC believes that the data collection will offer the commission an opportunity to collect detailed data about the services to which ACP households chose to apply the affordable connectivity benefit. The ACP data collection will leverage information required for the broadband consumer labels, helping to create efficiencies and minimize burdens on providers. The data collection is seen as one way for the FCC to measure the performance of the Affordable Connectivity Program. The goals of ACP are to (1) reduce the digital divide for low-income consumers; (2) promote awareness and participation in the program; and (3) ensure efficient and effective administration of the program. Here we take a look at the FCC's new rules.

CenturyLink customers in Seattle and Portland receive wide-ranging levels of service for the same price, with poorer residents and people of color more likely to be burdened by slow speeds. Seattle had the worst disparities among cities examined in the Pacific Northwest. About half of its lower-income areas were offered slow internet, compared with just 19% of upper-income areas. Addresses in neighborhoods with more residents of color were also offered slow internet more frequently: 32.8% of them, compared to 18.7% of areas with more white residents. CenturyLink offerings in Portland were also uneven, as 27% of addresses in lower-income areas were offered speeds below the federal broadband standard of 25 Mbps, compared with 16% of higher-income areas. In both Portland and Seattle, neighborhoods rated “hazardous” to mortgage lenders in mid-20th century “redlining” maps — which were used to discriminate against minority communities — were more likely to see the worst internet deals in both cities today. While advocates and government officials see an opportunity to offer additional input during the allocation of $65 billion in federal funding approved in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the money may not yield much relief for underserved urban neighborhoods.

Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) announced the completion of New York's first-ever municipal broadband network as a major milestone for the state's ConnectALL program. The network is the first phase of the ConnectALL 21st Century Municipal Infrastructure pilot program, which began in May 2022 using fiber optic infrastructure on the New York Power Authority's existing transmission system and is ahead of schedule due to the NYPA and the Village of Sherburne and Town of Nichols optimizing implementation plans. The $10 million, four-municipality pilot project has completed construction enabling reliable, high-speed internet access to more than 2,000 previously unserved or underserved households and business customers. The pilot program is the largest public investment in broadband in the state's history that aims to transform New York's digital infrastructure and expand broadband access, affordability, and equity statewide using public and private investments. NYPA is managing the broadband deployment in the four locations leveraging its existing fiber optic infrastructure for the "middle mile," as authorized by the state legislature in April 2022.

Things have been looking up for fixed wireless access (FWA) for some time now. Indeed, by the end of 2022, FWA is not only thriving, but it’s also playing a starring role in 5G. It hasn’t always been this way. In earlier iterations, FWA didn’t pan out for mobile operators. But in more recent years and with 5G, the consumer premise equipment (CPE) has seen notable improvements, new spectrum is adding to the available capacity, and demand is going through the roof. According to T-Mobile’s 2022 State of Fixed Wireless report, the company identified one of the big factors driving FWA’s growth: Consumer hatred toward their cable companies. Traditional broadband providers rank dead last in customer satisfaction among all industries, and customers are just plain hungry for alternatives. Of course, cable companies aren’t rolling over, and one can expect them to ramp up the rhetoric against FWA. Comcast recently launched a website and series of ads dedicated to disparaging T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet service, claiming the service slows down during heavy network daytime usage. For now, the big FWA players are T-Mobile and Verizon, with T-Mobile planning to serve 7 million to 8 million FWA subscribers by the end of 2025, and Verizon expecting to serve about 4 million to 5 million fixed wireless customers within a similar timeframe.