Light Reading

A small coalition of internet service providers (ISP), broadband associations, and digital equity advocates is emerging to warn that a requirement for service providers to provide a letter of credit in order to participate in the federal government's Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program will "shut out a huge number of ISPs." The $42 billion BEAD program requires grant recipients to provide a letter of credit for 25% of the award, in addition to a 25% match requirement.

AT&T CEO John Stankey said Internet Air, the company's new fixed wireless access (FWA) product, is "performing well" in the early going. But Stankey stressed that Internet Air will continue to be used on a limited, targeted basis.

Verizon told the Federal Communications Commission that it supports the idea of creating an Office of Civil Rights within the FCC. The matter was discussed in a meeting between Verizon and the FCC, and then summarized in a letter, regarding the FCC's ongoing digital discrimination proceeding. That proceeding began in 2022, as mandated by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

AT&T and Charter Communications are best positioned to benefit from the multi-billion-dollar Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program based on state-by-state allocations and the presence of each operator in those states, reckon analysts that have broken down the numbers. "The larger the presence an operator has in a state with a sizable allocation of BEAD funding, the greater the opportunity there is for it to see benefits from a build-out near its existing footprint and fill-in additional pockets across its DMAs [designated market areas] with edge-outs," the analysts at IS

The second quarter (Q2) of the year is usually a tough stretch for cable operators.

Europe's telecommunications chiefs love to moan about the data deluge that has swamped their networks, demanding payment – a "fair contribution" or "fair share" – from the Internet giants they hold mainly responsible. Yet none has ever presented any hard data to support the claims. Metrics show many of them fail to cover their capital costs.

A recently proposed rule change to the Federal Communication Commission's Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) program has fixed-wireless advocates concerned that the high-cost program could kick out broadband providers delivering service over unlicensed spectrum. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is looking to increase the program's minimum speeds to 100/20 Mbps.

With the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) set to run out of funding in early 2024, the importance of sustaining the program took center stage with House Democrats at a Federal Communications Commission oversight hearing. The hearing was the FCC's first before the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee and touched on a range of issues from improved broadba