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Counties, Private Providers Clash Over Merits of Open Access Networks

Counties see it as a way to increase competition and lower prices, while telecoms see money and quality problems.

Published

2 years ago

on

From left to right: John Burchett, Carter Old, and Ramiro Gonzales at Digital Infrastructure Investment

HOUSTON, September 28, 2021 – Tensions emerged Monday when the topic of open access networks pitted municipalities in favor and private companies against the idea of sharing infrastructure with other telecoms.

The Digital Infrastructure Investment conference hosted by Broadband Breakfast heard how counties favor open access networks to drive connectivity, competition among providers, and make internet access more affordable.

“We’re certainly in favor of open access,” said Julie Wheeler, president commissioner of York County, Pennsylvania, noting that affordability and access were York County’s chief priorities. She said York took advantage of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funding they received last year to build a 16-mile dark fiber backbone. The county is now focused on building out their middle mile infrastructure.

Ramiro Gonzalez, director of government and community affairs for the City of Brownsville, is working to bring Brownsville away from being the least connected city in America. His team’s action plan was created during the pandemic working through many models and opportunities. They have allocated 19.5 million dollars into building the middle mile network for Brownsville.

“The middle mile will provide resiliency to all our buildings” and utilities, said Gonzalez. He says the city saw the most value in building middle mile infrastructure and then opening the infrastructure to investors to grow the network from there.

Digital Infrastructure Investment 2021 was hosted as an online and in person conference by Broadband Breakfast at the Broadband Communities Summit. The recording of the Monday event is available for registration and replay.

Open access networks have been a topic of great interest, as cities and states try to figure out how to expand broadband infrastructure. The broadband portion of the infrastructure bill that is expected to be voted on in the House on Thursday will give money to the states and cities to divide. Telecoms have been concerned that builds by municipalities, who then allow other telecoms to ride on it, would effectively replace the incumbents. Republicans in some states have even sought to limit community networks.

But some have suggested that the issue must be framed as more cooperation with providers rather than an existential crisis for them, while others have even said municipal broadband networks with open access provisions could help alleviate competition fears.

Private companies signal issues with open access

Carter Old, co-founder and president for Tachus LLC, approaches networks with one hundred percent buried fiber due to events like hurricanes and floods that have been a tragic part of the recent history of Houston, where Tachus primarily operates.

Tachus’ strategy is to bring a “blazing fast pipe of internet” and from there “allow the customer” to decide what internet experience to bring to their home. “In order to deliver hands down the best customer experience,” said Old, “we feel that owning and maintaining our network is the best way to do that.”

For Ting Internet’s Monica Webb, having too many providers on the same pipeline could potentially create a financial problem whereby a price war would leave some providers without much profit.

John Burchett, head of public policy for Google Access and Google Fiber, noted that building broadband infrastructure is slow, and that Google Fiber is “picking up steam” to penetrate suburbs and small towns.

“With every passing day there’s a new model out there,” he said, stating that there are many paths to building broadband infrastructure. Though he said that Google would be interested in providing an open access network on which it would compete against other providers, he clarified that, “I don’t think you’re going to find any provider who will build a fully open access model,” though he made clear that Google has offered service on shared or leased networks before.

One problem Burchett raised is the lack of choice that the majority of America is facing, alluding to a middle ground between local monopoly and an over-saturated market.

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Reporter Riley Steward is a writer from Denton, Texas, who graduated from The University of Texas' Business Honors Program. He has written for various publications including The Recording Academy Grammy.com. He currently lives and writes in New York City.

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Sen. Ted Cruz Warns of Potential Waste in BEAD Allocations

The conservative critic of the broadband program highlighted inaccurate FCC mapping data in a report.

Published

6 days ago

on

September 15, 2023

By

Photo of Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Gage Skidmore

WASHINGTON, September 15, 2023 – Senate Commerce ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, warned in a report on Friday of potential waste in Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment funds.

Part of the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act, the program allocated over $42 billion for expanding broadband infrastructure in areas with poor internet access. That funding was awarded to states in June based on the number of those areas listed in the Federal Communication Commission’s National Broadband Map.

The 20-page report from Cruz’s office highlights how it believes the map is inaccurate, and claims that it disproportionately benefited states with fewer unserved areas – those with no meaningful internet access – than the map shows. It points to Washington, D.C., where the FCC’s map shows a third of the district’s unserved areas within the National Zoo, and notes the high allocation per unserved map location.

D.C. received fewer BEAD funds than any state – just over the minimum benchmark of $100 million set out in the program – but its small size and dense population gave it over $540,000 per location, opposed to the national median of $5,600.

The broadband map is also considered by some state broadband offices to be inaccurate. The commission has released an updated version since the allocation of BEAD funds based on challenges to its coverage data and is requiring states to accept local challenges before awarding any grants with BEAD funds.

Cruz also noted in the report that some areas slated to be served by other federal funding programs are marked as unserved in the FCC map. Funds under the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, Capital Projects Fund, and ReConnect Program have been awarded for providers to build infrastructure in areas that are still currently unserved, meaning BEAD funds were allocated based in part on areas that will receive broadband anyway.

The report calculated 85,000 of the 3 million unserved areas slated to be served by BEAD will already have been given service by another federal program.

The report also criticized BEAD’s preference for fiber infrastructure, saying alternative means of providing internet like satellite and fixed wireless could serve hard-to-reach areas for less money.

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Broadband Breakfast Webcast of BEAD Implementation Summit Available for $35

Space is extremely limited for the in-person event; Zoom in instead with the Broadband Breakfast community.

Published

1 week ago

on

September 11, 2023

By

WASHINGTON, September 11, 2023 – The Broadband Breakfast community is pleased to announced that those outside of Washington will be able to participate remotely in the BEAD Implementation Summit on Thursday, September 21, via a live webcast.

Participation in the webcast, via a live Zoom webcast, is available for $35. Breakfast and lunch are not included in the live webcast.

However, both in person and live online registrants for the BEAD Implementation Summit will obtain access to the complete videos of the BEAD Implementation Summit, a pathbreaking event tapping into the energy surrounding the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.

As state broadband offices work to prepare their five-year plans for the BEAD program, this timely event will discuss the challenges, controversies and solutions surrounding this historic push for universal high-speed connectivity.

Evan Feinman, deputy associate administrator for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, will be the keynote speaker at Summit.

The event, hosted by the Broadband Breakfast community and featuring an in-person and online streaming component, will feature four panels on the most relevant and topical issues regarding BEAD Implementation. Among the panelists who have confirmed include state broadband leaders like North Carolina’s Angie Bailey, New Jersey’s Valarry Bullard, Arkansas’ Glenn Howie, Virginia’s Dr. Tamarah Holmes, Maine’s Andrew Butcher and Illinois’ Matt Schmit.

New panelists and keynote speakers are being added frequently to the program.

The complete program – including both in-person and online registration options – is available at the BEAD Implementation Summit. In-person event registration is available for $245.

“The BEAD Implementation Summit will drill into the particulars of BEAD implementation as states are looking at the largest-to-date federal investment in high-speed internet infrastructure, said Drew Clark, editor and publisher of Broadband Breakfast. 

The event will take place at Clyde’s of Gallery Place at 707 7th Street NW, Washington. 

Register now to hear what federal and state government officials, plus industry and non-profit groups, have to say about the next steps in this historic broadband funding. In addition to discounts on events and access to premium videos, Broadband Breakfast Club members have access to comprehensive monthly exclusive reports that delve into key topics pertaining to Better Broadband, Better Lives.  

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Treasury Approves $167 Million for Oklahoma Broadband Expansion

The state plans to serve 20,000 locations with 100 * 100 Mbps broadband.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

September 8, 2023

By

Photo of Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of the treasury

WASHINGTON, September 8, 2023 – The Treasury Department approved on Friday over $167 million for broadband infrastructure in Oklahoma.

The money will fund the Oklahoma Broadband Infrastructure Grants Program, a state effort to subsidize broadband projects in areas that are expensive to serve because of low population density or geographic obstacles.

The state estimates that 20,000 locations will be served with OBIG-funded projects, about 13 percent of the areas lacking broadband in the state. 

Projects supported by the fund will be required to deliver speeds of 100 Mbps upload and download. That’s faster than the FCC’s broadband benchmark of 25/3 Mbps.

The money comes from the $10 billion Capital Projects Fund, established with the American Rescue Plan Act in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. The fund provides money for projects that enable work, education, and health monitoring.

More than $8 billion in CPF funds have now been awarded. Many states, territories, and tribal governments are using the money to finance broadband development projects.

Some state officials say the CPF is better suited to reach high cost areas because of its “sliding scale” model. States can provide matching funds for up to 95% of project costs with CPF money, compared to 7% under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.

Providers that build CPF-funded projects are required to participate in the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program, a monthly internet subsidy for low-income households. It provides $30 a month to most recipients and $75 per month to residents of Tribal lands.

The $14 billion ACP is set to dry up in 2024. It is unclear whether Congress will renew it.

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