LightReading
A fifth of China's broadband users access speeds of 1 Gbps or above
Twenty-two percent of broadband customers in China have access to downlink speeds of at least 1 Gbps. China is progressing in fixed-line broadband as well as mobile, according to its latest government statistics. The country's three big operators reported 622 million fixed-line broadband users at the end of August, which is up 32.1 million from the start of the year. All told, of the 587 million Chinese broadband users, 94 percent are on 100 Mbps and above. The country's success in rolling out advanced infrastructure and racking up big subscriber adds is due to several factors, such as a su
Cable jumps into the mobile subsidy game
Some of the nation's top cable operators have begun to ramp up promotions focused on smartphone subsidies. These cable-led promotions mark a shift in the dynamics of the US mobile market, according to MoffettNathanson. Analyst Craig Moffett said this new wave of mobile promotional offers from operators such as Comcast, Charter, and Cox illustrates that they're indeed needed in today's competitive market. "Cable's emergence as a promotional discounter was entirely predictable, notwithstanding their early protests to the contrary," Moffett explained. However, he tempered predictions on how we
US telecommunications players balk at foreign ownership reporting proposal
A wide range of telecommunication companies and trade associations in the US oppose a new Federal Communications Commission proposal that would require regular reassessments of a foreign carrier's authorization to provide service in the US.
'Buy America' restrictions could bog down BEAD
Strict "Buy America" requirements for government subsidy programs such as BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) threaten to significantly delay broadband network rollouts in rural areas if flexible waivers on those restrictions are not included, several industry organizations and industry watchers are warning. The Buy America policy, if strictly enforced, "could cause significant delays in actual deployments such that, for all practical purposes, it will cease to be relevant to the [broadband providers] or the communities the federal government sought to assist," New Street Resear
US cell towers and small cells: By the numbers
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) recently published perhaps the most definitive look at the wireless infrastructure landscape in the US, showing 142,100 cell towers and 452,200 outdoor small cell nodes across the country at the end of 2022. Because WIA's report segments infrastructure by type, it offers a clearer picture of the 5G marketplace than recent findings from CTIA, the primary trade association for the US wireless industry. CTIA counted a total of 419,000 cell sites across the US at the end of 2021.
Consumer advocates, industry groups still quibbling over broadband label rules
Requirements for forthcoming consumer broadband labels are nearly finalized, but a new batch of Federal Communications Commission filings shows there are still key points of disagreement between public interest groups and industry organizations representing internet service providers (ISP). Consumer advocates including Next Century Cities and Consumer Reports expressed opposing views from industry groups like NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) on some of those matters. Here are some of those remaining sticking points:
Podcast: On the need for more carrier-neutral Internet exchange points (LightReading)
Submitted by dclay@benton.org on Mon, 03/20/2023 - 16:54Get ready for the summer of spectrum squabbling
For the first time ever, Congress allowed the Federal Communication Commission's spectrum auction authority to lapse—a development that prevents the agency from auctioning more spectrum to 5G network operators. At roughly the same time, President Joe Biden's nominee to the FCC, Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society], abruptly withdrew from contention without any clear replacement.
The COVID hangover: US fiber providers slow down
According to the financial analysts at Evercore, US fiber operators are significantly scaling back their network buildout efforts.