This is the third in a series of articles looking at which providers are opting to offer services supported by the Affordable Connectivity Program. Here, Benton looks at the offerings of the largest wireless companies in the United States. According to wireless trade association CTIA, all three national providers and numerous regional providers support the Affordable Connectivity program—representing approximately 95% of existing wireless subscriptions and covering more than 99% of all Americans. The vast majority of wireless broadband consumers—over 350 million—subscribe to either Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&T. All US wireless providers with over 5 million subscribers, Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T (as well as their prepaid services and subsidiaries), Dish Wireless's Boost, and US Cellular are all participating in the Affordable Connectivity Program. We also included nonprofit PCs for People, whose services center on getting low-cost computers and affordable broadband internet into the homes of low-income individuals. When comparing wireless companies to telephone and cable providers in the program, cable is overall more cost-effective and transparent about their participation.

[Also see Does your cable company participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program? and Does your telephone company participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program?]

The Federal Communications Commission asks a series of questions about the current set of programs supported though the Universal Service Fund, particularly in light of the broadband initiatives funded through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Commenters have focused heavily on how to fund universal service programs given the problems with the current contribution mechanism and ways to modify existing support programs. We have reviewed these comments and respectfully submit reply comments. We make six points in these reply comments:

1. Fund Universal Service Through General Revenues, Not Taxes on Services
2. Stop Mandating Minimum Projected Demand for High-Cost Subsidies
3. Set Budgets for CAF and Other Infrastructure Programs
4. Include Measurable Objectives and Evaluation
5. Continue Using Reverse Auctions
6. Create a Task Force to Overhaul USF and Monitor ARPA and IIJA Funds

Comcast won a grant of more than $30 million to help expand high-speed internet service to underserved homes and businesses in Delaware, as part of a state initiative to deliver universal broadband access. Verizon and Mediacom each also scored hefty awards. All told, the state awarded $56 million in Broadband Infrastructure Grants. The money was distributed as part of a $110 million program announced in September 2021 aimed at closing existing broadband gaps in the state. Comcast came away with $33.1 million, while Verizon snagged $11.8 million and Mediacom won $11.1 million. Using the money, the trio will extend their wireline infrastructure in Delaware over the next 36 months to cover more than 11,000 unserved locations. The grants will cover up to 75 percent of construction costs, with the operators contributing the remaining 25 percent. In a strategic broadband plan released in May 2021, the state previously identified 11,600 locations in contiguous areas which were unserved with broadband meeting the Federal Communications Commission’s minimum speed standard of 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. The report noted there were a few hundred more unserved addresses sprinkled within mostly served areas, with these primarily consisting of locations where “the potential return on investment is not high enough to merit the cost to pick up those customers.” It concluded that encouraging incumbent providers to edge out their networks would be the most efficient way to connect a majority of unserved locations, finding 87 percent could be reached with a half-mile extension of existing infrastructure.

AT&T has filed to undertake copper retirement projects in at least eight states in 2022 as it ramps a plan to reduce its legacy DSL footprint by 50 percent over the coming years. Verizon, which has been working to retire its copper network for a while now, and Ziply Fiber are seeking to sunset copper assets in four additional states. Under Federal Communications Commission rules, operators are required to file public notices for certain network changes, including copper retirements. Short-term notice can be submitted for changes set to take place within six months. These notices are published by the FCC and considered final after 90 days if no objection is raised. In the case of filings covering facilities not serving any customers, the notices are considered final after 15 days. The waiting period following the publication of public notices was originally 180 days, but was cut to 90 through reforms passed by the FCC in November 2017. AT&T is targeting upgrade work in Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas in the first half of this year. Specifically, AT&T filed to upgrade wire centers in Atlanta (GA); Charlotte (NC); Brookfield, Chillicothe, Laclede, Linneus, Kirksville, Saint Catharine, Stanberry and Trenton (MO); and Alva and Olustee (OK). The filings for most of these noted there were no current customers on the relevant parts of the network. Elsewhere, Verizon filed to retire copper assets in South Boston (MA), and Syracuse, Scarsdale and Pleasantville (NY), while Ziply Fiber submitted plans to decommission wire centers in Newberg, Beaverton and Hillsboro (OR), and Marysville (WA).

Total global revenue for the broadband access equipment market went up to $16.3 billion in 2021, according to Dell’Oro Group's Q4 2021 Broadband Access and Home Networking quarterly report. Fiber demand fueled market growth, along with passive optical networking (PON) infrastructure and fixed wireless customer premises equipment (CPE). Cable access concentrator revenue increased by 4 percent in 2021, totaling over $1 billion. Total PON optical network terminal (ONT) shipments reached a record 140 million units. PON infrastructure and fixed wireless CPE made up 32 percent of global revenue, according to Dell’Oro Group VP Jeff Heynen. Fixed wireless CPE revenue went up by 42 percent since 2020. Heynen said the Gigabit Ethernet passive optical network (GPON) “makes up the largest portion of the market by far.” But the XGS-PON, which can coexist on the same fiber as GPON, is also gaining traction in North America. Fiber distributors are also concerned about supply chains. There is so much demand for new fiber projects and optic conduits that fiber lead times are increasing, Heynen said. Heynen predicts 2022 will see a slowdown in the number of PON-CPE and ONT units. Partially due to ongoing supply chain constraints but also because providers are focused on building out infrastructure first, before adding subscribers to their networks.