Competition/Antitrust

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.

In a win for T-Mobile over challenger Charter Communications, the National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs determined that T-Mobile's "no data caps" claim for its Home Internet service was not misleading. NAD also found that T-Mobile's advertising “did not reasonably convey a disparaging message” that competing cable internet providers, including Charter, require long-term contracts and “exploding bills,” as compared to T-Mobile's Home Internet service.

House Republicans’ “Big Tech Censorship and Data Task Force” presented its preliminary proposals to rein in major tech companies on March 16 — and a significant antitrust overhaul is not particularly high on the agenda. The task force, established in 2021 by Rep Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and led by Rep Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), is developing proposals on Section 230 reform and privacy for the GOP to mobilize around if the party takes back the lower chamber in November 2022.

Rural counties are facing some interesting dilemmas about where to offer local support for the giant upcoming federal grant funds that will hopefully build broadband in their counties. Counties that are willing to provide local matching grants from American Rescue Plan Act or other funds may well rise to the top of the list of lists of who gets funded. I think many counties fear that nobody is going to seek the $42.5 BEAD grant funding in their county – and some are probably right.

The tech world order that came together in the '90s at the Cold War's end is falling apart as a new rift between Russia and the West opens and a great retrenchment begins. The breakup of the USSR in the early '90s opened an era in which internet use rapidly spread around the globe and US tech companies viewed the entire planet as both factory floor and market. Working from that assumption helped a handful of companies grow to previously inconceivable size, wealth and power.

Broadband appears to be on the list of priorities for private equity firm KKR as it looks to invest $17 billion from a newly created fund in infrastructure projects across the globe. Countries like the US are already pouring a significant amount of money into improving infrastructure.

The race to 5G is forcing the world's biggest telecom giants to consolidate. 5G is all about scale; when companies combine, they have more resources and capital to bid on spectrum and build out tools to get ahead. Orange and Masmovil announced they entered exclusive talks to merge their operations in Spain at a valuation of €19.6 billion ($21.7 billion).

When the pandemic hit, everything that could possibly be done online made the jump — work, job-hunting, school, doctor’s visits, and so on. The shift was hard for everyone, but many Americans didn’t even have the fundamental thing needed to make that change: a fast and reliable internet. People without internet access showed up at emergency rooms — during a pandemic — for non-emergencies, because they just weren’t able to do a video appointment. And when the time came, there was no refreshing a browser to find out where to get a vaccine.

In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission, broadband service provider associations urged the FCC not to complicate the consumer labels that will be required at the point of sale for broadband services.

If implemented properly, broadband consumer labels can empower individuals and communities to ensure that their broadband service meets their needs and expectations. However, the Coalition recognizes that navigating the detailed information included in the broadband consumer label can be overwhelming. With this in mind, these labels can also support digital navigators and community leaders in guiding community members to find the right plan for them.