Light Reading

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has rescinded a memorandum that would have put a pause on all federal grant funds, creating significant confusion.

Although there's nothing concrete yet on the topic from Trump 2.0, Washington insiders are growing more hopeful that the new US president will push through regulations that will help 5G network operators deploy more cell towers for services like fixed wireless access (FWA). That would undoubtedly please big 5G carriers like Verizon and T-Mobile as well as smaller players like C Spire, which are already offering FWA service to millions of customers.

The Australian government has topped up the national broadband network (NBN) project with an extra 3 billion Australian dollars (US$1.85 billion), promising to make the network all-fiber by the end of the decade.

An AT&T effort to replace aging copper connections with wireless options is gaining regulatory steam, potentially paving the way for more operators to do the same. That could have significant implications for the wireless network operators offering those alternatives.

Two Democratic members of the Federal Communications Commission believe Congress should step up and codify network neutrality rules as federal law after the Sixth Circuit shot down the FCC's latest version of the rules. Such a move would finally stop the pendulum swings of the on-again/off-again FCC rules on network neutrality.

As we close out 2024, one question hanging over next year is what will come of federal broadband funding for high-cost and low-income programs?

The US cable industry has gone through fits and starts trying to add mobile to the service bundle over the years. But cable has finally hit the mark by focusing on bundling home broadband and mobile and creating an early form of convergence that cable's key competitors, including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, are now trying to emulate with fiber network buildouts alongside a wave of fiber-focused mergers.

The fiber broadband market is likely headed for more consolidation in the coming year, according to research from consulting firm AlixPartners. In a survey conducted in August 2024, AlixPartners found there are over 400 small fiber providers that are likely to merge or be acquired by larger providers and private equity firms.