Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - Mike Dano

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Mon, 04/08/2024

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Daily Digest 4/5/2024

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Fri, 04/05/2024

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Federal Broadband Programs

Affordable Connectivity Program (was Emergency Broadband Benefit Program)

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Affordability/Cost/Price

Legislation

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Federal

Marginalized Populations

Low-income

Copper decommissions spread across the US

zwalker@benton.org — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 16:45:03 +0000

Some smaller US telecommunications providers are toying with the notion of shutting down their copper networks, following years of pioneering efforts by bigger network operators like AT&T and Verizon. According to the financial analysts at New Street Research, Frontier and TDS Telecom are eyeing the savings they might be able to derive from shuttering legacy network technology. To be clear, virtually all of the US market's telco operators are shifting from copper to fiber for their new network buildouts and upgrades. Indeed, the Fiber Broadband Association and RVA Market Research and Consulting estimate that fiber lines now pass nearly 78 million US homes, up 13% from a year ago. What's unclear though is whether every single decommissioned copper location will be serviced by fiber. In 2015, the Federal Communications Commission outlined rules for carriers that intend to turn off copper networks and replace them with fiber. The agency noted that operators should feel free to make the switch as long as they keep providing services to customers.

Benton Content:

https://www.lightreading.com/fttx/copper-decommissions-spread-across-the-us-albe…

Teaser:

Frontier, TDS, AT&T and Verizon are among the fiber network operators working to shutter their aging copper networks

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Mon, 04/08/2024

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Fri, 04/05/2024

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https://www.lightreading.com/regulatory-politics/5g-slices-are-a-net-neutrality-…

Infrastructure

Telecommunication

5G slices are a net neutrality loophole, critics argue

zwalker@benton.org — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 18:04:43 +0000

There are growing concerns among some lobbyists that 5G network operators will be able to use network slicing technology to evade the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) proposed net neutrality rules. Some claim that network slicing will establish Internet "fast lanes." "Mobile ISPs and their trade associations are pushing the FCC to let them create new kinds of fast lanes by using a network management technique known as 'network slicing,'" wrote a group of public interest groups—including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Open Technology Institute at New America, and Public Knowledge—in a new filing with the FCC. "They are asking the FCC to let them treat these new fast lanes as 'specialized services' that are largely exempt from net neutrality rules." Those public interest groups aren't the only ones sounding the alarm. "The commission should not allow network slicing to be used to evade any Open Internet rules it adopts," wrote the NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, a trade group representing the nation's cable companies.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

There's a blooming debate over how the FCC's proposed net neutrality rules will address network slicing

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Mon, 04/01/2024

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Daily Digest 3/29/2024

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Fri, 03/29/2024

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Regulatory classification

https://www.lightreading.com/finance/the-death-of-acp-could-cut-4b-out-of-teleco…

The death of the Affordable Connectivity Program could cut $4 billion out of telecom industry

zwalker@benton.org — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 20:23:56 +0000

According to a new report from the financial analysts at New Street Research, the US telecommunications industry stands to lose roughly $4 billion in market value–and $1.1 billion in revenues–if the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) ends. New Street said it based its latest calculation on its own survey of over 1,000 ACP recipients as well as data from Recon Analytics, the Federal Communications Commission and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, plus commentary from companies in the ACP program and historical data obtained during the pandemic. The firm found that 27 percent of ACP beneficiaries said in surveys that they will drop service if their bill increases by $30 (the amount of the ACP subsidy). However, the analysts estimated that around 1.2 million households may actually do so, considering survey responses often do not directly correlate with actual behaviors. The firm also estimated that around 1.6 million households will cut their telecommunications spending by $15 per month if the ACP ends.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

New Street Research analysts used survey and other data to calculate the effect of the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

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Thu, 03/21/2024

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Daily Digest 3/20/2024

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Wed, 03/20/2024

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Federal Broadband Programs

Affordable Connectivity Program (was Emergency Broadband Benefit Program)

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Affordability/Cost/Price

Legislation

Level of Government

Federal

Marginalized Populations

Low-income

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Benton Foundation

5G spectrum debate heats up ahead of Biden's implementation plan

zwalker@benton.org — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 19:21:51 +0000

Spectrum is a hot topic in Washington these days, as lawmakers, lobbyists, regulators and others look for advantage ahead of the release of an implementation plan for the Biden administration's national spectrum strategy. The latest: A new bill from two top Republican Senators would require the government to reallocate at least 600MHz of midband spectrum for commercial use within three years. Sens Ted Cruz (R-TX) and John Thune (R-SD), introduced the new "Spectrum Pipeline" bill, which would require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to identify at least 2,500MHz of spectrum between 1.3GHz and 13.2GHz to be reallocated from federal government use to non-governmental or shared use over the next five years. Hovering over the new legislation is an ongoing debate over spectrum in the lower 3GHz band. The Department of Defense (DoD) currently uses the lower 3GHz spectrum band to operate its radars, satellites, navigation equipment and more. But the 5G industry has been trying for years to convince the White House to reallocate some or all of that band for cellular operations.

Benton Content:

https://www.lightreading.com/5g/5g-spectrum-debate-heats-up-ahead-of-biden-s-imp…

Teaser:

New legislation will have to fight through a political minefield populated by Pentagon, cable and wireless representatives

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Tue, 03/12/2024

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Daily Digest 3/11/2024

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Mon, 03/11/2024

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Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare

Agenda

Upcoming policy issue

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

https://www.lightreading.com/fttx/at-t-t-mobile-and-verizon-outline-their-fwa-fi…

AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon outline their FWA, fiber expansion plans

zwalker@benton.org — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 20:29:08 +0000

Each of the big telephone company operators in the US—Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T—plans to expand the reach of its broadband home Internet service in the coming years. Further, each company plans to do so via a combination of fiber and fixed wireless access (FWA) connections. Those efforts could be supercharged if the operators tap into subsidies from the US government. US states are currently in the process of allocating $42.5 billion in Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) money, with initial network-construction projects expected to start next year. T-Mobile officials suggested that, after trials of the technology, the operator is getting closer to implementing a broader fiber play. That effort would represent a significant development for T-Mobile because—unlike AT&T and Verizon—T-Mobile does not own a wired network. AT&T COO Jeff McElfresh said that the company remains on track to expand its fiber network to 30 million locations by 2025. The company is in the process of replacing large portions of its aging DSL copper network with a combination of fixed wireless and fiber. Verizon's networking chief Joe Russo said that the company remains on track to hit its goal of between 4 million and 5 million FWA customers by 2025. But he also suggested the company could grow beyond that figure.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

Each of the big US operators plans to expand the reach of its broadband home Internet offerings via a combination of fiber and fixed wireless

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Fri, 03/08/2024

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Daily Digest 3/7/2024

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Thu, 03/07/2024

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https://www.lightreading.com/regulatory-politics/cable-and-wireless-lobbyists-cl…

Cable and wireless lobbyists clash over the future of FWA

zwalker@benton.org — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 22:14:31 +0000

Lobbyists backed by the cable industry are working to prevent 5G providers from obtaining more spectrum in the lower 3GHz band. Cable's goal is to prevent the expansion of fixed wireless access (FWA) services across the US, according to lobbyists from the wireless industry. "Instead of innovating to meet the new competitive challenge they face, cable is trying to block policies that stimulate investment and competition," wrote Nick Ludlum, a top official with the CTIA, which is the main trade association for wireless network operators like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. Ludlum argued that FWA services are cutting into cable's core Internet business, and as a result the cable industry is working to "cut off access to the raw material that would supercharge competition—dedicated licensed spectrum."

Benton Content:

Teaser:

Lobbyists are trying to prevent 5G providers from obtaining more spectrum in the 3GHz band

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Tue, 03/05/2024

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Daily Digest 3/4/2024

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Mon, 03/04/2024

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https://www.lightreading.com/ai-machine-learning/will-telcos-be-the-railroad-tyc…

Will telephone companies be the railroad tycoons of the AI age?

zwalker@benton.org — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 16:12:46 +0000

During America's Gilded Age, a handful of scrappy entrepreneurs built the nation's railway system and in the process created huge piles of money by controlling shipping and travel lanes across the country. Today, as AI hype begins consuming everything in sight, some are hinting that mobile network operators—and their equipment vendors—may be sitting in a similar position thanks to the data they own. After all, AI models are only as good as the data they're trained on. That's why Google is reportedly paying Reddit $60 million every year. And the telecommunications industry has an enormous amount of data. "It's very valuable," said Elena Fersman, an Ericsson VP. Fersman, the head of Ericsson's Global AI Accelerator effort, said network data can be used to train AI models. However, there are only a few companies talking publicly about how they might use—and profit—from their data troves. For example, AT&T business exec Mike Troiano declined to discuss whether AT&T would consider selling access to its data in order to train AI models.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

Mobile networking players control huge amounts of data that could potentially be used to train innovative AI systems

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https://www.lightreading.com/5g/is-t-mobile-facing-static-over-its-latest-5g-spe…

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Wed, 02/28/2024

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Daily Digest 2/27/2024

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Is T-Mobile facing static over its latest 5G spectrum purchase?

zwalker@benton.org — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 17:21:04 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it's going to more carefully look at the "competitive effects" of T-Mobile's plan to purchase more 2.5GHz spectrum for its 5G network. It's possible the agency's investigation into the topic could lead the FCC to reduce the amount of spectrum that T-Mobile hopes to gain. Broadly, the development may represent yet another setback in T-Mobile's efforts to obtain the spectrum it won during the FCC's Auction 108 of midband 2.5GHz spectrum that ended in 2022, with T-Mobile capturing around 90 percent of all the licenses sold. T-Mobile agreed to pay around $304 million for those licenses—a relative steal considering the C-band auction for similar spectrum licenses generated an astounding $81 billion in winning bids. However, the FCC didn't issue T-Mobile its spectrum winnings after the auction because, shortly after it ended, the agency lost its congressional auction authority to administer spectrum licenses.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

The FCC indicated it will review the 'competitive effects' of T-Mobile's 2.5GHz spectrum winnings from Auction 108 in 2022

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Send date:

Mon, 02/12/2024

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Daily Digest 2/9/2024

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Fri, 02/09/2024

Coverage Type:

Competition/Antitrust

https://www.lightreading.com/finance/congress-poised-to-gift-billions-to-isps

Congress poised to gift billions to internet service providers

zwalker@benton.org — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 16:29:57 +0000

Legislation currently wending its way through Congress could extend 100 percent bonus depreciation of property for US businesses. That could add billions of dollars to the coffers of Internet service providers (ISPs) like Verizon, AT&T and Charter Communications. Thomson Reuters defines bonus depreciation as "a tax incentive designed to stimulate business investment by allowing companies to accelerate the depreciation of qualifying assets, such as equipment, rather than write them off over the useful life of the asset. This strategy can reduce a company's income tax, which in turn reduces its tax liability." The new legislation would "provide significant financial benefits to ISPs," summarized Blair Levin, a policy adviser to New Street Research and a former high-level Federal Communications Commission official, in a note to investors.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

The House of Representatives passed legislation that would extend 100 percent bonus depreciation of property for US businesses

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