Telecommunication

The Federal Communications Commission announced that it is ready to authorize $554,150,641 million in its third round of funding for new broadband deployments through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). Together with two prior funding wave announcements, the FCC has now announced over $1 billion in funding to winning bidders for new deployments. In this funding wave, 11 broadband providers will bring fiber-to-the-home gigabit broadband service to over 180,000 locations in 19 states.

Across America, 5G mobile networks are going up, which eventually will supplant the internet backbone we use for nearly all communications. With minor changes, the Pentagon’s ongoing 5G demonstrations, 2020's appropriations to replace Chinese network equipment, and the proposed Infrastructure and Jobs Act could combine to spur deployment of open 5G architectures that would create a market for US telecommunications equipment builders and installers.

In meetings with Federal Communications Commission staff, NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association reiterated its support for ensuring that lowincome consumers have affordable access to the voice service they need and therefore urged the Commission to retain the Lifeline subsidy for stand-alone voice service. Voice service remains critical for many low-income and older individuals who rely on such service as an affordable method of contacting health care providers, government agencies, and public safety. NTCA further stressed the urgent need for FCC action on the National Association of State U

GAO conducted a technology assessment on (1) the availability of quantum computing and communications technologies and how they work, (2) potential future applications of such technologies and benefits and drawbacks from their development and use, and (3) factors that could affect technology development and policy options available to help address those factors, enhance benefits, or mitigate drawbacks. GAO identified four factors that affect quantum technology development and use: collaboration, workforce size and skill, investment, and the supply chain.

Get ready for speculation over who will take over as top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, whose jurisdiction covers everything from broadband and net neutrality to media ownership and online liability protections, a coveted spot among lawmakers. Rep Mike Doyle (D-PA) replaced Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) as the subcommittee’s top Democrat in 2017 and became chair in 2019. Doyle has prioritized efforts to restore Obama-era net neutrality regulations that were repealed during the Trump years.

Startup internet company Underline, which focuses on community infrastructure, is now hoping to disrupt the telecommunications industry by building open access fiber networks across 2,500 underserved communities. The company says its first full-scale deployment will break ground October 19 in Colorado Springs (CO) — where 10 percent of all households have no internet access. In an open access model, a city or a private company like Underline builds and maintains the physical infrastructure, and invites multiple independent providers to run services on the network.

Rep Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is asking the Federal Communications Commission to step in and stop the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) from charging providers for high-speed internet infrastructure.

TDS Telecom, a Madison (WI)-based communications company, was awarded $2.032 million in funding for broadband expansion projects in two Wisconsin communities. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin selected 83 projects from 242 applications utilizing $100 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to bring faster internet speeds to unserved and underserved areas in the state. TDS was awarded a grant of $943,333 for a project in Potosi in southwest Wisconsin and a second grant of $1,088,791 in Necedah.

The 3.45 GHz auction, which started October 5, completed 23 rounds on October 14, with bids tallying more than $4 billion. Demand started out high at the beginning of the month, but Auction 110 observers saw a large drop in demand on October 8. Actions over the past week suggest the auction is at risk of closing. If demand reaches supply before the minimum price of $14.8 billion is reached, the auction will fail, warn analysts at New Street Research. If things go south in a hurry, the outcome could be known by October 20.

The pandemic accelerated the momentum for getting every American access to affordable, reliable broadband. It also elevated the role that states and localities should play in bridging the digital divide—the gap between those with access to high-speed internet and those without it—including by building partnerships with internet service providers (ISPs) to get communities online. But telecommunications law is complex and can occasionally present legal and regulatory challenges to broadband expansion projects.