General

Broadband Bytes, February Issue 1

For this week’s Broadband Bytes, the first 3 articles are interesting in that they cover topics that ISPs must deal with and factor into their budgets outside the scope of what we usually deal with (price and labor costs).This article gives a good summary of the challenge process for BEAD, which most states are currently evaluating or will be soon. 1. What exactly is the BEAD challenge process what steps must ISPs take to make sure they are not building in a location that is covered by another BEAD-funded service provider? And why does the BEAD challenge process matter to ISPs? Tarana Wireless hosted a recent webinar to address these questions for ISPs. Read More 2. Seven telecom organizations filed comments to the FCC Tuesday opposing an electric utility association’s reconsideration petition, which attempts to remove some of the pole attachment reforms the FCC adopted in December.  The December ruling requires pole owners to share in the costs of preparing utility poles for replacement even if they are considered “grandfathered” – meaning they were installed or existed before certain regulations were enacted. This ruling found that when an attacher requests access to a pole that is out of compliance with current safety standards, replacing the pole is “not necessitated solely” by the attacher’s request, and both the pole owner and the attacher who wants access to a pole must share in replacement costs. Read More3. The Georgia House passed a measure on 2/13/24 that would exempt certain federal grants for broadband investment from state income taxes, passing by a vote of 162-1. If enacted, the legislation would waive state income taxes on any grant acquired through the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment program or the American Rescue Plan Act, retroactively effective from January 2022. The bill must now pass through the state Senate. Read More4. Fixed Wireless Access providers, led by T-Mobile and Verizon, added nearly one million Internet subscribers in the fourth quarter last year while many wireline rivals moved in the opposite direction by losing thousands of customers. Nevertheless, Gregory B. Maffei, President & Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Broadband Corp., believes that FWA providers can’t sustain their growth curve because their networks do not have sufficient spectrum capacity. Comcast President Michael Cavanagh has said his company is focused more on competition from fiber network overbuilders than FWA providers. Read More5. LTD Broadband has filed a petition for review of the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to deny its funding as part of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. LTD was initially the largest winner in the FCC’s 2020 RDOF auction, securing over $1.3 billion in planned support over a decade from the $ 9.2 billion program.However, in August 2022, the FCC rescinded LTD’s award, citing failure to meet eligibility requirements in several states and doubts about the company’s ability to deliver high-speed internet to the designated areas. In March 2023, the owners of LTD created a separate entity, GigFire, which operates under a services agreement with LTD. Read More6. Where the first 3 articles cover non-traditional cost factors for ISPs, this article reinforces the importance of the labor savings and cost savings our solutions offer:Rob Laudati, who joined the executive team at Render Networks last year, said fiber network builders often face ballooning labor and material costs, leading to fears that some projects may become unprofitable. Despite resistance to new technology in the telecommunications industry, many firms eventually reach a tipping point caused by market pressures that cause them to look at new solutions to increase efficiency. Read More7. The following funding was just announced. The majority of the funds will be to ensure clean water access. But there is $42M from USDA ReConnect Round 4 that is going to two awardees in Florida: Suwannee Valley Electric Co-op $17,800,000 and IBT Group $24,200,000. The U.S. Department of Agriculture unveiled a $772.6 million investment on February 21st to fund 216 projects in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands which will enhance rural broadband connectivity and digital skills, ensure access to clean water, and bolster economic growth in underserved communities. A sum of $42 million is coming from the USDA’s Reconnect Program. The program offers both loans and grants to help cooperatives, telecommunications companies, and local governments cover the costs associated with deploying high-speed internet networks in underserved communities. Read More   Broadband Bytes is a regular feature by David Levine of UCL Swift. David is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, a certified BICSI RCDD,and a 35-year industry veteran in fiber and copper solutions.He currently works as a Business Development Manager for UCL Swift.

Apr 01, 2024

General

Broadband Bytes, February Issue 2

1. NTIA Finalizes BEAD ‘Buy America’ Waivers. With the waiver now finalized, the NTIA is waiving a program requirement that certain electronics and equipment used in broadband projects funded by the BEAD program be domestically sourced in the United States. Read more2. USDA Extends ReConnect Round 5 Application Deadline. The Department of Agriculture extended by 30 days the deadline to submit applications for the fifth round of the ReConnect rural broadband funding program, by pushing the deadline to May 21. Beginning March 22, internet service providers, state and local governments, rural electric cooperatives, and other eligible entities will have 60 days to apply for loans up to $50 million or grants up to $25 million to support broadband infrastructure initiatives in rural areas. The funding from USDA’s ReConnect Loan and Grant Program will amount to $700 million if all available money is fully utilized.3. Charter potentially eyes a merger with Altice USA. Looks like Charter might be eyeing a takeover of fellow cable rival Altice USA. Sources told Bloomberg that Charter is working with financial advisors to determine if it makes sense to buy Altice. But there’s no telling if Charter would go through with the plan. Both Altice and Charter declined to comment. However, according to New Street Research’s Jonathan Chaplin, a Charter-Altice merger makes sense given their respective footprints. Read more4. FCC Urged to Grant Amnesty for RDOF Recipients Nearly 70 broadband experts, internet service providers, state and local officials, and nonprofits jointly urged the Federal Communications Commission Wednesday to grant limited amnesty to RDOF recipients so that those communities are eligible to receive BEAD funding.As outlined by the guidelines of the $42.5-billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment federal initiative aimed at expanding high-speed internet access, communities that have previously obtained grants from other federal broadband initiatives, including the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunities Fund and Connect America Fund II, are ineligible from accessing any portion of the funding allocated under BEAD.5. Alabama is getting a major open-access fiber boost via private investment. Meridiam, an infrastructure investment firm, is kicking off a $230 million project to build an open-access network that will reach 17 Alabama cities, including Selma and Demopolis. Read more   Broadband Bytes is a regular feature by David Levine of UCL Swift. David is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, a certified BICSI RCDD,and a 35-year industry veteran in fiber and copper solutions.He currently works as a Business Development Manager for UCL Swift.

Apr 01, 2024