telecompetitor

Telecommunications and electric cooperatives are playing an important role in bringing high-speed broadband to rural America, according to a new report from the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR). Using FCC data, researchers identified 87 cooperative gigabit deployments as of December 2016. The majority of the nation’s 260 telecom cooperatives have deployed fiber-to-the-home.  About 60 of the nation’s 900 electric cooperatives have deployed fiber, and that number is growing fast.

[Commentary] Moving in for the kill, incumbent carriers have stretched their home team advantage.  With millions in lobbying, campaign contributions and sponsored research, along with a like-minded Federal Communications Commission majority, the unpleasantness of the prior 8 year Obama stretch largely will evaporate very quickly. Money well spent. Rather than frame regulatory debates in terms of midlevel issues of economic theory and political philosophy, think lower tier: cold hard cash money. Follow the money.

The broadband industry is in the midst of figuring out the impact and implications of the next evolution of wireless, 5G. And the hype machine is in full swing. Some might argue it’s off the charts, especially in comparison to the roll out of previous generations, including 3G and 4G. At last week’s Huawei Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF), held in London, 5G was put into better context, at least for me. MBBF attracts one of the best global carrier speaker contingents of any wireless event.

• While broadband network speeds have improved substantially over the last decade, the web’s performance has stagnated from the end user point of view. 
• The disconnect between broadband and web speeds suggests that the “virtuous circle” hypothesis created by the Federal Communication Commission to justify common carrier internet regulation is false.
• A system for capturing passive measurements and sharing them among internet service providers, web developers, and other responsible parties may be useful for accelerating the web experience.