Telecommunication

Martinsville, Virginia, is looking for quick ways to create new revenue and the answer may be staring the city in the face. MiNet is a city-owned telephone and internet service provider for local businesses and residents in Martinsville. As of the 2020 census, the population of Martinsville was 13,485, but MiNet only has a total of 376 customers with 98 and of them classified as residential.

On Dec 12, 2023, Sen Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel requesting input on proposals to modify the contribution base for the Universal Service Fund (USF).

Comcast Corporation reported results for the 4th quarter that ended December 31, 2023. Growth in residential connectivity revenue was driven by international connectivity revenue due to increases in wireless revenue, reflecting higher sales of wireless devices and services, and in broadband revenue, as well as the positive impact of foreign currency; domestic broadband revenue due to higher average rates; and domestic wireless revenue due to an increase in the number of customer lines.

The Federal Communications Commission updated its rules, and proposed additional updates, to improve communications network reliability, resiliency, and transparency during disasters and outages. The rule changes will increase participation in, and enhance the use of, the FCC’s Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS), in which service providers report on their operational status during emergencies. Certain types of communications providers are required to report network outages to the FCC’s Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) on an ongoing basis.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules to more precisely route wireless 911 calls and Real-Time Texts (RTT) to 911 call centers, which can result in faster response times during emergencies and ultimately save lives. Wireless 911 calls have historically been routed to 911 call centers based on the location of the cell tower that handles the call. But in some cases, the nearest cell tower may be in a neighboring jurisdiction. In these cases, the call may be routed to a 911 call center in that neighboring jurisdiction, not the call center that serves the caller’s location.

The federal government has spent $12.82 billion in the last two years helping low-income households pay for internet service. Almost a quarter of it has gone to one company. Charter Communications received $3.01 billion through the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a larger slice than any of its competitors.

AT&T delivered strong fourth-quarter and full-year results highlighted by profitable 5G and AT&T Fiber subscriber gains. AT&T Fiber had 273,000 net adds in the fourth quarter and 1.1 million net adds for the full-year.

The first residents and businesses to connect to GoNetspeed’s fiber internet network in Manchester, Connecticut will be brought online this spring, according to the Alabama-based provider, which said 10,700 locations in total will be connected when all is said and done. Construction on the project is expected to begin in February, according to a January 22 release from the company. GoNetspeed Chief Operations Officer Tom Perrone said GoNetspeed’s network is intended to grow with the Hartford County community while adapting to Manchester’s needs.

Verizon Communications reported strong fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 results highlighted by total wireless postpaid net additions, fixed wireless net additions and increased wireless service revenue. Total broadband net additions of 413,000, represented the fifth consecutive quarter that Verizon reported more than 400,000 broadband net additions. Total broadband net additions included 375,000 fixed wireless net additions, bringing the subscriber base to over 3 million.

In November 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published its draft national Spectrum Strategy (NSS) and asked for comments to be filed by January 2, 2024. Seventy three organizations submitted written comments by the deadline. All three major national wireless carriers filed comments, which were remarkably similar to each other in their talking points. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile stressed their desire to put a rush on more mid-band spectrum.