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Week of January 13, 2025

Community Connect Grant Program Opens February 20th

The Rural Utilities Service, a Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces the acceptance of applications under the Community Connect Grant (CCG) program for fiscal year (FY) 2025. This notice is being issued prior to passage of an FY 2025 appropriations act in order to allow applicants sufficient time to prepare their applications and give the Agency time to process applications within FY 2025. These grant funds will be made available to eligible applicants to construct broadband networks that provide service on a community-oriented connectivity basis in rural areas. Application window opens on February 20th.

Guidance From NTIA Published For Wireless & LEO

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published the Final Bead Alternative Broadband Technology Policy Notice to provide additional guidance to states and territories regarding the use of non-fiber technologies to serve unserved and underserved locations through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. It outlines the steps states and territories must take when deciding to award BEAD subgrants to non-fiber broadband deployment projects like Wireless and LEO. Read more HERE 

 North Dakota Leads Nation In Fiber Connectivity

An impressive milestone is inching its way to completion in North Dakota. In one of the most rural parts of the US, the Peace Garden State is close to being the first in the nation in which every home and business has (or will soon have) access to fiber service, the gold standard of Internet connectivity. An estimated 95 percent of households in North Dakota – including nearly eight out of 10 farms – have access to broadband at speeds of at least 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) while close to 70 percent have access to Gig speed fiber service. It’s why the state’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program allocation is set at only $130 million, just $30 million more than the $100 million minimum. The relatively small amount of BEAD funds for North Dakota in comparison to other states is because there are not many unserved locations left in the state.

Week of January 6, 2025

119th Congress Begins With New House Commerce Committee Leadership

As the 119th Congress convenes, the House’s legislative and oversight agenda for all things broadband will likely start and live with this panel. Here we look at changes in leadership in this key committee and how the priorities of these new leaders may impact broadband policy. On December 9, Rep. Guthrie announced that his Republican colleagues had chosen him to be the next Chairman of the House Commerce Committee. Chairman Guthrie promised to deliver on President Trump and House Republicans’ America First agenda, which includes restoring America’s energy dominance and lowering energy prices, protecting children’s online safety and ensuring America remains the world leader in technological innovation and more. Read more HERE

Net Neutrality Ruled Against, FCC Powers Diminished

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Federal Communication Commission’s attempt to reinstate net neutrality. The decision puts perhaps the final nail in the coffin for open internet regulation. For consumers, this is not good news, but it’s also a blow to the FCC. Circuit Judge Richard Griffin wrote the opinion, which he kicked off by saying the Court agreed with Congress which has said the internet has “flourished, to the benefit of all Americans, with a minimum of government regulation.” Read more HERE

BEAD Construction Accelerated by NTIA Steps

NTIA released two documents to streamline the Final Proposal and accelerate BEAD’s $42.45 Billion construction.

  1. Streamlined Final Proposal Guidance: Streamlined more than 40% of questions to save states and territories critical time to focus on implementation.
  2.  Accelerating Construction of BEAD Projects: NTIA’s guidance document identifies actionable steps states, territories, and service providers can take to accelerate the construction of BEAD projects.

Week of December 16, 2024

Regulatory Relief For Rural Broadband

Rural broadband providers just got a gift in the form of regulatory relief. The U.S. Senate passed legislation that would essentially simplify financial reporting requirements for rural telecommunications providers. The bill, referred to as the ACCESS Rural America Act, increases the shareholder registration threshold for providers that “receive support through certain Federal universal service support mechanisms.” While it doesn’t sound too exciting at first glance, the legislation underscores the regulatory headache smaller broadband providers face when dealing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said Mike Romano, EVP of The Rural Broadband Association NTCA. Read more HERE

Fiber Internet Speeds Set New Record

Scientists at University College London recently achieved a speed on a wireless link of 938 Gbps. That’s over 4,000 times faster than the current average speed being delivered by T-Mobile, the current fastest cellular provider in the U.S. The team is researching techniques for multiplexing multiple radio transmissions into a coherent transmission. The scientists achieved the speeds by utilizing a huge span of spectrum between 5GHz and 150 GHz. They also had to combine multiple techniques to create and join the signals. For now, these fast tests represent scientists pushing the edge of radio technology. These tests are not going to produce any usable technology for many years. The University of College London used a wide swath of spectrum that would never by allowed by any government. But the early success show that faster radios will somebody be possible. Read more HERE

 “Fiberhoods” Present Opportunity 

Right now, fiber-to-the-home providers have a unique opportunity to become market leaders in small cities, large towns, and high population density rural areas where cable modem currently is the only option. These areas are called “fiberhoods” because they are neighborhoods large enough to support a privately funded fiber deployment but small enough that the incumbent cable provider is not motivated to upgrade on their own. The first company to deploy fiber to such a market typically captures the majority of customers in short order. The ideal fiberhood has:

  • No existing fiber
  • High population density
  • A large footprint

Read more HERE