Editor's Note: The Federal Communications Commission released the following press release, entitled "FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for January Open Meeting": WASHINGTON, January 3, 2019—Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the January Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 30, 2019. Should the current lapse… Keep Reading
US Telecom recently released an update to its U.S. broadband industry capital spending series. Ford’s analysis shows that while the decline in capital spending in 2015 and 2016 stopped in 2017, investment in the telecommunications sector is materially compressed, being about $10-to-$13 billion (or 12-to-15%) below expectations in 2017 with nearly $24-to-$30 billion in investment lost to the Title II drama since 2015. Keep Reading
NEW BRITAIN, Conn., November 2, 2018 - Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz is pleased to announce a broadband conference entitled, Connected New England: A Regional Broadband Convening at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Connecticut, (300 Capitol Ave.), Room 2C, on November 8, 2018, from 9:00 am – 4:30 p.m. Registration is required, but the event is free for government, academic, and non-profit employees to attend, while the registration fee for others will be $150. Press are invited to attend. The event is being co-hosted by Next Century Cities, a non-profit coalition of innovative municipalities that recognize the importance of leveraging gigabit level internet to attract new businesses and create jobs, improve health care and education, ensure civic participation, and connect residents to new opportunities. Keep Reading
ROCKPORT, Maine, September 3, 2018 - The Maine State Chamber of Commerce teams up with the Telecommunications Association of Maine to host a roundtable discussion on how to overcome difficulties in funding rural broadband. Featured guests include Dana Connors, president of the Maine Chamber of Commerce (discussing the recent report, "Making Maine Work"), Heather Johnson,… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: It is great to see this kind of round-up of an array of broadband activities happening throughout the country. It is a reminder that broadband remains a potent economic development issue throughout the country, if not in Washington. Kudos to Smart and Resilient Cities for putting this piece together! Broadband Expansion Gains… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Are Facebook and Amazon really GDPR compliant? Researchers used artificial intellence software to analyze Facebook and Amazon new GDPR policies. The AI tool found one-third of policy clauses to be “potentially problematic” or containing “insufficient information”, which could put the companies’ in violation of GDPR. Meanwhile, Google and Facebook asserted they are working… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Against a backdrop of complaints by American conservatives that Facebook and other social media giants promote non-conservative content, a new report finds that the opposite is occurring. Facebook accused of protecting far-right activists that broke site rules A documentary says some pages are kept safe from deletion by "shielded review," from CNET: Facebook allegedly… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Leading Republican leaders are content to talk up the significance of aiding rural regions by enhancing broadband deployment. But, at least according to this article from The Hill, are actively opposing measures, such as the Community Broadband Act, that Democrats say would help advance better broadband. Instead, Republicans favor legislation including H.R.… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: This great piece from a news site devoted to state, county and municipal government tackles what one state is doing in order to advance better broadband throughout its state. All states include a rural component (more or less), and Delaware shows that state-wide broadband planning can help to put broadband deployment on… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: The role of wireless, which is one key piece of the broadband puzzle for rural areas, will be considered at the New America Foundation on Tuesday at Noon, together with Kelsey Guyselman, policy advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and an array of industry players. Spectrum as… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Rural priorities are again receiving additional emphasis in the draft spending legislation currently before Congress. Though the proposed $600 million is lower than the $2.5 billion that some had been discussing, the pending Trump infrastructure package could allocate still more funds to rural broadband priorities. Although omnibus budget bills are considered "must… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Think of all that has transpired over the past century and a half! Remembering Alexander Graham Bell, from Commscope On March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for his revolutionary new device—the telephone. Since then, telephony has evolved in ways even this great thinker could not have imagined. After connecting the world… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: The debate over the role of violence in movies and video games never seems to end. President Trump's attempts to link video games to gun violence likely serves as another distraction effort in his "chaos"-driven White House. Trump reopens a seemingly settled debate on video games and violence, from PBS News Hour… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Daniel Berninger has been a voice in the wilderness on the issue of net neutrality, and the Obama-era Federal Communications Commission's efforts to reclassify broadband internet access services as common carriers, since 2015. But as an internet entrepreneur, he has direct experience in working with the FCC on the regulation of Voice-over-Internet-Protocol… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: This piece by The Washington Post has, in turn, prompting some gloating by Republicans over at the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which criticized the "sweeping claims" of Democrats: "That consumers will see a sharp drop in Internet speeds if the Federal Communications Commission proceeds with its plan to unwind net neutrality… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: A great visual tidbit of history here. We found it when searching for information about the regulation of AT&T from the 1913 Kingsbury Commitment to the founding of the Federal Communications Commission in 1934. A Telephone Map of the United States Shows Where You Could Call Using Ma Bell in 1910, from… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Windstream seems to increasingly be trying to talk and act like an AT&T or Verizon Communications. This article highlights some strong aspects to his heritage as a back-haul fiber-optic provider. If this division is sold, it might mark the continued evolution toward telecom giant status. Windstream weighs potential sale of certain fiber assets,… Keep Reading
SEATTLE, January 18, 2018 - Amazon announced the 20 finalists for its second headquarters, or HQ2, after a high-profile quest among economic development officials around North America. The candidates include: Boston New York City Newark, New Jersey Pittsburgh Philadelphia Montgomery County, Maryland Washington, D.C. Raleigh Northern Virginia Atlanta Miami Toronto Columbus Indianapolis Chicago Denver Nashville… Keep Reading
Telecom attorney Jonathan Lee takes down the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's specious case against the AT&T/Time Warner merger in this detailed blog post, excerpted below. (Click on the link at the bottom for the whole argument.) Here's the money quote: "This alleged harm is simply too general to merit analysis." Assumptions On Assumptions:… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Telemedicine is one of the most immediately needed high-bandwidth broadband applications, and it promises concrete and easy-to-see benefits. Yet its usage had limited by occupational licensing. In this policy report, CATO Institute Adjunct Scholar Shirley Svorny lays out the case for the best option (eliminating all governmental licensing), a second-best option (defining… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Impossible task, meet unfortunate federal agency. | Federal Agency Drafts New Rules For Transparency In Political Social Media Ads, from NPR: The Federal Election Commission is moving to improve disclosure of the money behind Internet and digital ads, as the shadow of Russian-funded social media ads in last year's presidential race hangs… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: The future of broadband communication will involve advanced and low-latency applications, all delivered over symmetrical fiber or 5G wireless networks. To get there, we need computing and storage at the edge, and fiber deeper into the neighborhoods. Edge deployment strategy dependent on 5G use case being served, from RCR Wireless Whether it’s… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Siklu, which has been active in promoting the way high-speed wireless gigabit access can help communities leverage fiber-optic infrastructure, assembles a useful primer on its technology and business case for deployment. Providing 21th Century Broadband with Fixed Wireless Gigabit, from Siklu: There are close to 126 million households in the US, out… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: It is truly astonishing to see an incumbent provider, such as Verizon, taking the position that there must be easier access to poles and rights of way. But that's a good thing! Perhaps this is evidence of how far Verizon has moved away from the public utility model, but it is a… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Allow us to highlight one of the seven points made by Patrick Brogan in this commentary: Deep fiber. In this piece, he highlights seven elements - (1) Technical standards, (2) cell densification, (3) coexistence of 4G and 5G, (4) reevaluation of the mobile network architecture, (5) evolving network connections, (6) unanticipated applications, and… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: A good, basic summary of what an open-access network is, and why cities can benefit through the open-access approach. The best part of this piece is the discussion about why open-access is necessary for Smart Cities. Left unsaid are some of the more innovative approaches to financing open-access networks. Some of these… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: A useful voice of skepticism on the viability and timeliness of 5G. Here's the simple point: Our nation don't have enough fiber, deep enough, in order to capitalize on 5G. As the article says later on, "federal, state, and local governments have policy and regulatory levers that can hasten investment." The U.S.… Keep Reading
Live Streaming at 2017 NATOA Annual ConferenceNATOA is pleased to announce that we will once again be streaming select sessions during our 2017 Annual Conference this week. Use this link to watch the sessions live from Seattle, WA. Source: Live Streaming at 2017 NATOA Annual Conference Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Some insights from those soon to be in the eye of Hurricane Irma, from David Oxenford's Broadband Law Blog: FCC Issues Guidance for Broadcasters and Other Regulated Services in the Path of Hurricane Irma | Broadcast Law Blog The FCC has issued a series of public notices to broadcasters and other FCC-regulated… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: We've been enjoying our participation in this webinar series of the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration. It has now run for one year. However, the webinar series is taking a break for the month of August, so don't expect an event this Wednesday! BroadbandUSA presents a webinar on the… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: A good attempt to "decode" the furor surrounding Facebook's artificial intelligence experiment, and all of those chattering robots. Scare stories aside, the opportunity for machine intelligence and human intelligence to complement each other is truly remarkable. The 'creepy Facebook AI' story that captivated the media | Facebook has been experimenting with AIs that… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Our friend Craig Settles probes the question: How can rural areas get better broadband? Equally important, he provides some concrete examples of where and how it is happening. Broadband and Rural Economices - Maybe Small is Better | Rural communities should set realistic goals for how broadband will affect the economy. Even… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: One of the first groups to begin the movement toward a Gigabit City, KC Digital Drive, prepares for its Gigabit City Summit next week in Kansas City. Take advantage of opportunities to learn about how your city can benefit from fiber-optic connectivity! Why a Gigabit City Summit?, by Gigabit City Summit The… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: We'll look forward to further clarification about this issue from Verizon. This appears to be one documented instance of a network provider attempting to slow down video of a non-optimized service. Or in other words, a prime suspect of the need for some kind of net neutrality rules. Netflix speeds on Verizon Wireless… Keep Reading
OREM, Utah, July 6, 2017 – The founder of the Broadband Breakfast Club, journalist and lawyer Drew Clark, announced his candidacy for city council here with a campaign seeking to tap into “Better Broadband, Better Lives.” Orem is the fifth-largest city in Utah, home to Utah Valley University, and a sister city to Provo, the… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: We can expect many more instances in which new interfaces are making technology more compatible with user needs. Underlying it all is faster and better broadband technology. || Microsoft Cortana Speech Recognition Now Allows You To Dictate Text In Office Apps, from Geeky Gadgets: c is bringing Cortana speech recognition technology to… Keep Reading
Editor's Note: From the press gaggle on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, between White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Waters, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, and members of the press, about broadband internet services: PRESS GAGGLE BY DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY LINDSAY WALTERS SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE SONNY PERDUE Aboard Air Force One En Route Cedar Rapids, Iowa… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 2, 2017 - The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association and 17 other organizations and companies on Thursday urged the Federal Communications Commission to finalize rules governing the Citizens Broadband Radio Service. “We write today to encourage the FCC to remain committed to the rules it adopted in 2015 and affirmed in 2016, and… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: The Huntsville combination of open access and leased fiber is a model to watch! || Google Fiber launches in Huntsville, Alabama by leasing new municipal fiber network, from 9to5 Google: First announced over a year ago, Google Fiber is now live in Huntsville, Alabama. Alphabet’s internet connectivity division was able to launch its service… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Always important to get to the bottom of reports criticizing municipal networks in an incomplete fashion. Bravo to Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Next Century Cities for addressing these. || Addressing UPenn Report: Dud Data, Unsuitable Approach, from Institute for Local Self-Reliance: For the second week in row, our staff has felt… Keep Reading