Competition/Antitrust

Cities with their own broadband utilities and those looking to start them are hoping to disconnect Iowa statehouse proposals restricting their operation. A bill introduced in the Iowa Senate could prevent existing municipal communications utilities from offering discounted or competitive rates. It also would limit financing options for cities working to build their own fiber networks to provide internet, television and phone service to residents.

A trend that all Americans should be aware of — and angry about: Across industry after industry, sector after sector, power and market share have been consolidated into the hands of handful of players. In 2019, New York University economist Thomas Philippon did a deep dive into market concentration and monopolies in 

Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced a new webpage where constituents can complete and submit an internet speed test to the Federal Communications Commission, and learn more about the fight to bring reliable broadband to rural communities across West Virginia. The webpage can be accessed from a computer or mobile device at manchin.senate.gov/speedtest. If you are experiencing internet speeds below the FCC’s definition of broadband, which is 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload, Senator Manchin wants to hear from you.

New York City unveiled a massive new Internet Master Plan in Jan that experts say is the largest and most aggressive local broadband improvement project in US history. If successful, the city's proposal could become a template for other towns and cities looking to improve broadband access and provide a leg up to regional economies.

The digital gap between urban and rural parts of the country tends to garner the most attention. However, our analysis of the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) data tells another story: The majority of digitally disconnected households live in metropolitan areas, and the gaps are especially large when comparing neighborhoods within the same place.

USTelecom released its Industry Metrics and Trends 2020 report highlighting key elements of the broadband boom and investment story. USTelecom will weigh in soon explaining why the Federal Communications Commission should no longer mandate so-called network unbundling, a relic from a different (and far less competitive) era. Key highlights from the USTelecom Industry Metrics and Trends 2020:

Consumers and providers have made the transition from legacy voice to broadband and mobile communications services.

Advanced broadband is a high-tech phenomenon of today. Farming is a practice that stretches back ten thousand years. Together, they can help fight the continuing impact of climate change. Today’s high-tech farming depends on data – from remote sensors, from tractors, irrigation equipment, nutrient application machinery, and harvesters that communicate.

Public Knowledge filed comments and reply comments urging the Federal Communications Commission to increase its current broadband benchmark speed to at least 100 Mbps downstream based on evidence that American consumers already are using those speeds and many consumers are adopting even higher speeds. Since those comments were filed, more information has been released from the FCC and other third-party sources that support increasing the FCC's broadband benchmark speed from 25/3 Mbps.

Rural Solutions, which does business as Progressive Broadband, is a wireless Internet service provider (WISP) with ambitious goals. The company, based in rural Tennessee, has big plans for Cumberland county and beyond, including deploying fiber-to-the-home. The company also has made infrastructure choices that are more forward-looking than those that some WISPs initially make, explained Progress Broadband President David Williams.

CenturyLink has benefited the most from the Connect America Fund (CAF) II, a Federal Communications Commission program that has awarded Universal Service Funds to telecommunication operators to build broadband in unserved and underserved areas of the US, especially rural areas. CenturyLink has received $506 million per year since 2015 in CAF II awards, which will total more than $3 billion over the six-year period from 2015 to 2020. Now, the FCC has proposed a follow-on program to CAF.