Telecommunication

For more than a decade, US tech giants have had designs on building Africa’s internet. Alphabet is now at work on Project Taara, a “moonshot” project to connect rural Africa and other locations to the internet, using balloons floating in the stratosphere. Project Taara aims to repurpose Alphabet's previous Loon project's balloons’ airborne lasers.

A key provision in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs ACT (IIJA) calls for funding for broadband and other projects to go toward those which use products and materials containing primarily domestic-made components. But a growing number of broadband groups and vendors have told the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) that’s just not realistic.

Maine resident Michele Richards has a problem that will resonate with other Mainers who live even just slightly off the beaten path: the internet at her house is so slow that it’s affecting her ability to do her job. Richards, who works remotely, needs to be on the computer all the time. She and her husband Jeff pay $70 each month to Consolidated Communications, the only internet provider to serve their road. In return, they’re supposed to get maximum download speeds of 10 megabits per second, but the internet that comes to their house on DSL technology is usually slower than that.

The European Union should make big tech and video streaming companies pay at least some of the estimated €28 billion they cost European telecom groups for their outsized use of network infrastructure, according to a new industry report. A small number of video, social media and tech companies — including Facebook owner Meta, Netflix and Amazon — account for more than 55 percent of all traffic on mobile and broadband networks, according to research commissioned by the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association and conducted by the consultancy firm Axon.

Law360 announced the formation of its 2022 Telecommunications Editorial Advisory Board which will provide feedback on the publication's coverage and expert insight on how best to shape future coverage. Included on the board is Benton Senior Counselor Andrew Jay Schwartzman. 

Altice USA reported its first-quarter 2022 results. Total Revenue declined -2.3 percent in first-quarter 2022 to $2.42 billion. Net income attributable to stockholders was $196.6 million in first-quarter 2022 compared to net income of $274.1 million in first-quarter 2021. Residential broadband net losses were -13,000 in first-quarter 2022, compared to +12,000 broadband net additions in first-quarter 2021.

Charter Communications reported financial and operating results for first-quarter 2022. First quarter total broadband customers increased by 185,000. As of March 31, 2022, Charter served a total of 30.3 million broadband subscribers. Wireless increased by 373,000. As of March 31, 2022, Charter served a total of 3.9 million mobile lines. First quarter revenue of $13.2 billion grew by 5.4 percent year-over-year, driven by residential revenue growth of 3.7 percent, mobile revenue growth of 40.2 percent and commercial revenue growth of 4.3 percent.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the May Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 19, 2022. The FCC will consider:

Speedtest Global Index Market Analyses from Ookla identify key data about internet performance in countries across the world. This quarter Ookla has provided updated analyses for 44 markets that include details on fastest mobile and fixed broadband providers, performance of most popular devices and chipsets and internet speeds in cities.

The war in Ukraine is reviving concerns in Taiwan and some Asia-Pacific nations about the fragility of their internet connections because they rely on undersea cables that could be severed in a Chinese attack.