Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - CCG Consulting

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Digital Divide

Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

Infrastructure

Affordability/Cost/Price

Individuals who primarily Reside in a Rural Area

Can States Pick Up the End of ACP?

zwalker@benton.org — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:57:57 +0000

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel made it clear recently that the FCC is not willing to tackle funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) that is expiring in May 2024. She estimated that the FCC would have to add something like $9 to every broadband bill in the country to fund the ACP plan. However, states could pick up the ACP funding just for their state. States will have the authority to do this after the FCC approves the reinstitution of Title II authority this week. That authority would give the FCC the authority to create the fee needed to fund the ACP through the FCC Universal Service Fund. While internet service providers have already sent a joint letter to the FCC asking to preempt states from establishing a state version of the ACP, I don't think the FCC will. States that create their own version of the FCC will face a lot of issues, but it's certainly something they could do. Of course, this discussion could end in a hurry if Congress steps up and funds some version of ACP, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Benton Content:

https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2024/04/22/can-states-pick-up-the-end-of-acp/

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In theory, the states could establish their own versions of the ACP.

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Tue, 04/23/2024

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Daily Digest 4/22/2024

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Mon, 04/22/2024

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Digital Equity/Digital Inclusion

Upcoming policy issue

Digital Divide

Affordable Connectivity Program (was Emergency Broadband Benefit Program)

Affordability/Cost/Price

State

https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2024/04/18/can-the-fcc-fund-the-acp/

Low-income

Universal Service Fund

Can the FCC Fund the ACP?

benton — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 12:25:32 +0000

A lot of folks have been pleading with the Federal Communications Commission to pick up the tab to continue the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Folks are assuming that the FCC has the ability to take on the ACP program inside the Universal Service Fund. To make that work, the FCC would have to apply a monthly assessment against all broadband users—something the FCC should have the authority to do if it votes to reinstate Title II authority over broadband at its April meeting. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told Congress that rolling the ACP into the USF could add $9.00 to monthly broadband and telephone bills. She also cited an internal FCC report that found that broadband bills could increase between $5.28 and $17.96 per month. I decided to kick the tires on the FCC’s estimates.

The starting USF fee might have to be something like $7.50 per month, and there would have to be additional future increases to the fee until the ACP fund reached equilibrium. It’s not hard to envision the broadband fee growing significantly beyond $10 per month in a few years.
If ACP is limited to landline (and fixed wireless) customers, the broadband fee would be a lot smaller ($2.54/month).
It’s more challenging than you might think to assess a fee on every broadband customers.
It’s not hard to imagine the furor that would ensue if people drop their broadband connection as unaffordable because of the extra fee.

Benton Content:

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The real issue isn’t the size of the monthly fee – but whether the FCC is willing to take on the responsibility.

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Fri, 04/19/2024

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Daily Digest 4/18/2024

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Thu, 04/18/2024

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Digital Equity/Digital Inclusion

Upcoming policy issue

Digital Divide

Affordable Connectivity Program (was Emergency Broadband Benefit Program)

Affordability/Cost/Price

Adoption

Universal Broadband

https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2024/04/17/fcc-to-reimpose-broadband-regulation/

Low-income

Universal Service Fund

FCC to Reimpose Broadband Regulation

benton — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 14:17:32 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission will vote on reimposing Title II authority over broadband at its April 25 meeting. Here are just a few of the things that can happen after the FCC reintroduces Title II regulation:

The FCC used to have a broadband complaint process where the agency would intervene in cases of bad behavior by ISPs. Consumers could plead for relief from particularly egregious ISP behavior, and the FCC often required ISPs to set things right. The FCC also had the authority to dictate policies related to broadband customer service.
While they never exercised it, the FCC has the ability to regulate rates under Title II. This is the big bogeyman that worries ISPs. The FCC in the past used this power to coax ISPs to cut back on practices like rate caps.
The FCC used to have the authority to make ISPs refund money to customers when ISPs overbilled or otherwise cheated customers.
The FCC used to intervene and mediate disputes between ISPs over network practices. That ability died when Title II authority was killed.
The FCC had the authority to fine ISPs that engaged in bad behavior with customers – that largely died when Title II authority was killed.
The FCC had more authority to act against hacking and other behavior by bad actors.

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Here are just a few of the things that can happen after the FCC reintroduces Title II regulation

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Thu, 04/18/2024

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Daily Digest 4/17/2024

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Wed, 04/17/2024

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Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare

Upcoming event

Digital Content

Regulatory classification

Network management

Communications Act of 1934

Telecommunications Act of 1996

https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2024/04/16/bead-grant-contracts/

Network Neutrality

BEAD Grant Contracts

benton — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:36:35 +0000

To receive Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding, broadband providers will have to sign a contract with a state broadband office. The grant contract is the most important document in the grant process because it specifically defines what a grant winner must do to fulfill the grant and how they will be reimbursed. The grant contract is going to define a lot of important things:

This is the document that will define the line of credit that must be provided.
The contract is going to define the specific environmental studies that are required, along with the timing of the environmental work.
The contract is going to define how the broadband office envisions implementing the many issues that were in the grant application.
Perhaps the most important part of the contract is that it is going to define how the ISP will get reimbursed for completed work.
The contract is likely to have an expected contract completion date. The contract might require an ISP to finish the construction in the time that the ISP proposed in the grant application – while also imposing delays with things like environmental studies, compliance, and reimbursement rules that might make it hard for the ISP to meet that schedule.

Benton Content:

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The grant contract is going to define a lot of important things

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Wed, 04/17/2024

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Daily Digest 4/16/2024

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Tue, 04/16/2024

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Reporting

Upcoming policy issue

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

Individuals who primarily Reside in a Rural Area

First Look at Broadband Labels

zwalker@benton.org — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 20:29:59 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Broadband Labels were implemented by internet service providers with more than 100,000 customers on or before April 10. I've looked at a lot of labels so far, and I have some observations. The first is that the labels are generally hard to find—they are not prominently displayed on provider websites because the FCC's rules say they only have to be displayed at 'points of sale.' One of the features of the labels is that a provider is supposed to provide a plain English description of its technology and network practices. Most have failed at this, and in my opinion, a customer trying to understand two competing providers is not going to understand the technology difference using the broadband labels. The labels are also not going to tell the public much about speeds. Comcast, CenturyLink, Mediacom, and Sparklight all cite ‘typical speeds’ which is not a term I've heard used before. Overall, the Broadband Labels do not fulfill the FCC’s goals of making it easier for customers to understand broadband products. For the most part, the descriptions of network practices are not written in plain English to help a potential customer understand the technology being used. The carefully crafted lawyer language in these sections makes it hard for even experienced industry folks to understand network management policies.

Benton Content:

https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2024/04/15/first-look-at-broadband-labels/

Teaser:

Overall, the Broadband Labels do not fulfill the FCC’s goals of making it easier for customers to understand broadband products

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Tue, 04/16/2024

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Daily Digest 4/15/2024

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https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2024/04/12/the-future-of-broadband/

The Future of Broadband

zwalker@benton.org — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 18:26:15 +0000

After spending some time going over my predictions about the future of broadband, I've come to a few conclusions:

We should start soon to develop a strategy to bolster middle-mile fiber routes. We’ll be facing a crisis in 15-20 years where most middle-mile fiber will have to be replaced to accommodate faster lasers.
Commercial companies are building some new middle-mile fiber, but not at a pace that’s needed.
Regulators and policymakers should consider future demand before giving out money to build broadband infrastructure. That failure to consider future broadband needs has repeatedly resulted in the Federal Communications Commission and states providing grant funding for broadband infrastructure that can’t meet predictable future demand. Any broadband infrastructure funded by grants should have the capacity to handle the expected demand during its expected useful life.
The expected future growth in demand means that every existing broadband network will have to be upgraded at some point in the next 25 years.
We need to invest in strategies that relieve broadband traffic from having to go to and from the major Internet POPs. That might include strategies to increase the use of edge-computing, caching more data locally, and creating many more peering points closer to local providers.

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Some conclusions about the future of broadband

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https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2024/04/11/the-future-of-middle-mile-fiber/

The Future of Middle-Mile Fiber

benton — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 16:08:11 +0000

In 25 years, our broadband networks will likely be carrying at 12 to 15 times the volume of data that they carry today, and probably more. Unfortunately, there is no easy path to upgrade middle-mile networks to keep up with the expected future demand. Faster lasers can’t alone satisfy the future demand for increased middle-mile bandwidth. Achieving faster speeds on middle-mile routes is going to require a lot of replacement of existing middle-mile fiber—to fiber that is clearer and that has fewer microscopic impediments. We are probably going to have to use a combination of three strategies to handle the middle-mile demand over the next 25 years:

Rip and replace current fiber to higher-quality fiber to be able to handle terabit or faster lasers.
Build a lot of new fiber alongside existing fiber routes to handle the increased capacity.
Employ strategies for reducing the demand on middle-mile networks (think edge computing, caching, and peering.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

Our current middle-mile routes are inadequate to meet future demand that will increase broadband traffic by a factor of 15 times or more

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https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2024/04/10/the-future-of-the-last-mile/

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Fri, 04/12/2024

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Daily Digest 4/11/2024

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Thu, 04/11/2024

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The Future of the Last Mile

zwalker@benton.org — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 15:18:08 +0000

What does future demand for broadband speed and usage mean for last mile technologies? The fastest broadband technology today is fiber, and the most common fiber technology is passive optical network (PON), which brings broadband to local clusters of customers. The original PON technology deployed in the early 2000s was BPON, which had the capability to deliver 622 megabits of speed to share in a cluster of 32 homes. The industry has pivoted in the last few years to XGS-PON, which can deliver 10 gigabits of bandwidth to a neighborhood cluster of homes. XGS-PON is a great upgrade, but it is not going to satisfy broadband needs in 25 years when demand is at least 12 to 15 times greater than today. Something that cable executives all know but don’t want to say out loud is that cable networks will not be able to keep up with expected future demand over 25 years. A few cable companies have already acknowledged this reality. Altice announced a transition to fiber years ago but doesn’t seem to have the financial strength to complete the upgrades. Cox has quietly started to upgrade its largest markets to fiber. All big cable companies are using fiber for expansion. By 25 years from now, all cable companies will have made the transition to fiber. There is no possibility for wireless technology to keep up with the increased demand that will be expected in 25 years. Unless satellite technology finds a way to get a lot faster, it won’t be a technology of choice except for folks in remote areas. Mobile data is always going to be vital, but there will be major pressure on wireless companies to finally deliver on the promises of 5G to keep up with future demand for speed and bandwidth.

Benton Content:

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What does future demand for broadband speed and usage mean for last mile technologies?

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Wireless Telecommunications

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Thu, 04/11/2024

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Daily Digest 4/10/2024

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Wed, 04/10/2024

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Wireless Internet

Network management

The Demand for Broadband Speed

zwalker@benton.org — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 13:58:18 +0000

The recent decision of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to increase the definition of broadband from 25/3 Mbps to 100/20 Mbps got me thinking about the long term trajectory of the demand for broadband speed. One way to think about future demand is to look back at the broadband speeds 25 years ago. In 1999, both telcos and cable companies offered 1 Mbps DSL broadband connection as an upgrade to dial-up—and 1 Mbps became the de facto definition of broadband at the time. Twenty five years later, the definition of broadband was increased to 100 Mbps, a 100-fold increase. There are a lot of reasons to think that the demand for faster speeds will keep growing. Every year we find more uses for fast broadband. If we plot the demand for broadband speeds out for 25 more years, at the historical rate of growth, demand would be 100 times higher in 25 years than it is today. That would mean the right definition of broadband in 25 years would be 10 gigabits. I know that a lot of people will jump all over this prediction and say it’s ludicrous and unrealistic—but think about 1999. You would have been hard pressed to find anybody in 1999 who would have predicted that the definition of download speed in 2022 would be 100 Mbps.

Benton Content:

https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2024/04/08/the-demand-for-broadband-speed/

Teaser:

There are a lot of reasons to think that the demand for faster speeds will keep growing

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