Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - Fiber Broadband Association

Author:

Autumn Minnich

Send date:

Fri, 04/26/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 4/25/2024

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Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Thu, 04/25/2024

Coverage Type:

Press Release

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

https://fiberbroadband.org/2024/03/28/fiber-expected-to-add-23-2-million-u-s-hom…

State

Fiber expected to add 23.2 million US homes passed by 2028

zwalker@benton.org — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 21:14:42 +0000

One hundred fifty billion dollars in new funding is expected to add an additional 59.3 million US homes to be reached by fiber over the next five years, according to the latest research from RVA Market Research & Consulting, with a total of over 137 million US homes passed by fiber by 2028. At the end of 2023, 78 million US homes were passed by fiber with a total of 5.1 million route miles of fiber construction completed. An additional 4.2 million route miles of fiber is expected to be added over the next five years. Michael Render, Founder and CEO, of RVA said that BEAD funding, and unprecedented capital from private equity companies, makes for "a rather spectacular period." Render noted that the RVA five-year US FTTH forecast for 2024-2028 has been reduced to factor in potential constraints expected to come into play during the second half of the projected timeframe. Network operators have concerns around workforce shortages, rising costs, work process constraints such as approvals and access, and materials shortages slowing the pace of deployment, while smaller operators are concerned about BEAD requirements and regulation being significant obstacles to participating in the NTIA grant program.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

One hundred fifty billion dollars in new funding is expected to add an additional 59.3 million US homes to be reached by fiber over the next five years

Source:

Author:

Digital Equity/Digital Inclusion

Send date:

Fri, 03/29/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 3/28/2024

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Thu, 03/28/2024

Coverage Type:

Analysis

Digital Divide

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

https://fiberbroadband.org/2024/02/15/mississippi-ponders-acp-shutdown-impact-on…

Mississippi Ponders ACP Shutdown Impact on Closing Digital Divide

zwalker@benton.org — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 20:38:07 +0000

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is winding down and will end in April when the rest of its funding is expected to run out, unless Congress enacts legislation to refund it. Failing to renew ACP is expected to have a significant impact on tens of millions of households across the country and could adversely affect efforts to close the digital divide. According to Adeyinka Ogunlegan, Vice President, Government Affairs and Policy at EducationSuperhighway, "234,000 households in Mississippi are in jeopardy of having their connectivity either completely interrupted or seeing their internet service bills go up, depending on how they’re leveraging the benefit.” EducationSuperHighway’s data shows that over 20,000 Mississippi households are veteran households currently participating in ACP, 122,000 households are in rural parts of the state, and 72,000 are senior households. “These are critical communities that we know rely on internet access for so many things in terms of access to health care, money, businesses, keeping their children educated, and accessing all the resources that the internet provides all of us,” Ogunlegan said.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

"234,000 households in Mississippi are in jeopardy of having their connectivity either completely interrupted or seeing their internet service bills go up"

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Author:

Send date:

Fri, 02/16/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 2/15/2024

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Thu, 02/15/2024

Coverage Type:

Reporting

Agenda

Upcoming policy issue

Federal Communications Commission

Affordable Connectivity Program (was Emergency Broadband Benefit Program)

Internet/Broadband

Affordability/Cost/Price

Legislation

https://fiberbroadband.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Fiber-Deployment-Annual-Re…

Marginalized Populations

Low-income

Fiber Deployment Annual Report

zwalker@benton.org — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 22:39:26 +0000

The Fiber Broadband Association partnered with Cartesian to research the cost of fiber deployment and provide insight on how costs are evolving over time. While no two deployment projects are alike, we found many common themes:

The cost per foot of aerial deployment is less than half that of underground- Typical costs ranged from $11 to $24 per foot for underground deployment, and $4 to $9 per foot for aerial deployment
Labor accounts for over two-thirds of build costs- The average split was 73% labor, 27% materials for underground construction, and 67% labor, 33% materials for aerial construction
Population density has a large impact on the cost per foot of underground builds- This generally held true for aerial deployments also, with a median of $5.00/ft for rural and $6.54/ft for urban areas
Building in rocky areas costs twice as much as laying fiber in soft earth- Underground deployment had a median cost of $10/ft in soft earth, but twice that in rocky terrain at $20/ft
Where available, a choice of construction method can reduce cost- Trenching had the lowest reported median cost, and plowing the highest
The Western states had the highest cost ranges- Northeast had the lowest typical costs
Anticipated cost increases expected to cool slightly- While 46% of respondents reported “significant” cost increases in 2023, only 24% expect the same in 2024

Benton Content:

Teaser:

While no two deployment projects are alike, we found many common themes when it comes to fiber deployment in 2023

Source:

Cartesian

Send date:

Mon, 01/29/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 1/26/2024

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Fri, 01/26/2024

Coverage Type:

Research

Affordable Connectivity Program (was Emergency Broadband Benefit Program)

Making a Down Payment on Affordable, Reliable, High-Speed Internet for All

zwalker@benton.org — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 23:10:13 +0000

The fiber broadband industry is experiencing a historic moment. According to Joseph Wender, Director of Capital Projects Fund at the US Department of the Treasury, never before (and likely never again) have multiple government agencies provided tens of billions of dollars in funding to provide affordable, reliable, high-speed internet for all Americans and close the digital divide once and for all. The Capital Project Fund (CPF) was created before BEAD; it was one of the few COVID Relief Bills that Congress passed as part of the American Rescue Plan during the height of the pandemic and the reason why Congress specifically put $10 billion in the rescue plan. “It was a down payment on making high-speed internet affordable and reliable for all Americans,” Wender noted. The $10 billion CPF program has been critical to keeping broadband deployments progressing while larger programs, like BEAD, will take longer to disperse. Wender said that his agency wants to make investments that don’t just last years, but last decades.

Benton Content:

https://fiberbroadband.org/2024/01/17/making-a-down-payment-on-affordable-reliab…

Teaser:

"We have to get it right this time"

Source:

Digital Equity/Digital Inclusion

Author:

Ashley Schulte

Send date:

Fri, 01/19/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 1/18/2024

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Thu, 01/18/2024

Coverage Type:

Press Release

Agenda

Report on past event

Digital Divide

Department of Treasury

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)

Capital Projects Fund

Coronavirus and Connectivity

Headlines Specific Topic:

Fiber Passes Over 50 Percent of U.S. Households

benton — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 22:29:11 +0000

In 2023, fiber broadband hit all new records, with 9 million newly passed U.S. homes added by network operators in 2023, with 6 million of those newly passed homes that previously did not have fiber, according to the latest annual research conducted by RVA Market Research & Consulting for the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA). “Cumulatively we’re now at about 78 million homes passed, including second and third passings,” said Michael Render, CEO and Principal Analyst, RVA LLC Market Research and Consulting. “We’re about 69 million unique homes passed. We’re now passing 51.5% of U.S. households, unique primary homes.” There are now 30.9 U.S. million homes connected by fiber, with take rate on the increase. “We’ve dipped a bit in the past, but we’re on the rise again to about 45.4% in average passings,” said Render.

Benton Content:

https://fiberbroadband.org/2023/12/13/fiber-passes-over-50-of-u-s-households/

Teaser:

9 million newly passed U.S. homes in 2023

Source:

Author:

Fiber Broadband Association Elects 2024 Board of Directors

Send date:

Fri, 12/15/2023

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 12/14/2023

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Thu, 12/14/2023

Coverage Type:

Fiber Broadband Association Elects 2024 Board of Directors (Fiber Broadband Association)

zwalker@benton.org — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 17:01:35 +0000

Links:

Offsite url:

Open offsite URL

Source:

https://fiberbroadband.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Broadband-Playbook-Version…

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 12/13/2023

Broadband Infrastructure Playbook 3.0

zwalker@benton.org — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 21:55:52 +0000

Playbook 3.0 combines four deep-dive modules that aim to help state broadband offices as they make decisions on key aspects of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program and complete their initial proposals for NTIA review before a December 27 deadline. The Broadband Infrastructure Playbook 3.0 includes the following modules that offer solutions to some of the most challenging BEAD proposal requirements:

Permitting: Access to State and Local Rights-of-Way and Infrastructure
Achieving Digital Opportunity through BEAD Grants (Extremely High Cost per Location Threshold)
Broadband Mapping Challenge Processes
Cybersecurity and Supply Chain Risk Management Under the BEAD Program

Benton Content:

Teaser:

Series of deep-dive modules address critical elements required in upcoming BEAD proposals

Source:

NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association

Send date:

Fri, 11/10/2023

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 11/9/2023

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

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Publish Date:

Thu, 11/09/2023

Coverage Type:

Analysis

Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare

Digital Divide

Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

https://fiberbroadband.org/2023/09/07/connecting-the-pieces-in-digital-equity/

Connecting the Pieces in Digital Equity

dclay@benton.org — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 19:21:39 +0000

One out of four urban households do not have a wireline subscription or the infrastructure to support one, making the challenge of closing the digital divide no small matter. Achieving digital equity is going to take time, and efforts will be ongoing as technology evolves and household circumstances change. “Digital skills are one issue that will never go away,” said Angela Siefer, Executive Director, National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA). “We are always going to be addressing a digital divide because the technology is going to keep changing and how we use it is going to keep changing,” Siefer said. Connecting the pieces for digital equity of physical access, affordability, and education will require investment in local solutions for digital navigators and other tools and programs so the most at-risk populations get the assistance they need in the communities they are most comfortable in.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

Changing technologies will require various tools and programs to promote digital equity.

Source:

Author:

Digital Equity/Digital Inclusion

Send date:

Fri, 09/08/2023

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 9/7/2023

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

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Publish Date:

Thu, 09/07/2023

Coverage Type:

Press Release

Affordability/Cost/Price

Adoption

Localism

Fiber Broadband Association Delivers Geospatial Fiber Planning Tools to Fiber Broadband Community

dclay@benton.org — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 21:57:58 +0000

The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) announced a suite of Broadbandtoolkit.com geospatial planning tools for FBA members to visualize existing broadband deployments and areas of opportunity. Members can now access Fiber Finder, the Fiber Strategy Toolkit, and the National Hex Toolkit through FBA’s Research and Resources library to identify the current reach of broadband technologies, understand key differences in quality of service, find Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD)-eligible areas, and develop data-driven strategies to connect Americans that are unserved or underserved. The suite of geospatial planning tools enables members to visualize U.S. locations passed by fiber and other BEAD-eligible technologies, the performance and depth of fiber deployments, and where eligible unserved and underserved project areas exist. The three tools include:

Fiber Finder geospatial business planning solution enables broadband providers, manufacturers, state broadband offices, federal regulators, and others to see the extent of residential and business fiber deployments in the US. The solution leverages data from the May 2023 release of the Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection (BDC) and shows locations passed by holding company and by state or territory;
The Fiber Strategy Toolkit takes geospatial planning one step further to visualize the presence, performance, and depth of fiber deployments;
The National Hex Toolkit expands deployment visualization capabilities to all BEAD-eligible technologies, including fiber, cable, copper, and licensed fixed wireless terrestrial networks in the US. It includes BEAD compliance layers based on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) definitions and recent federal data sets.

Benton Content:

https://fiberbroadband.org/2023/08/21/fiber-broadband-association-delivers-geosp…

Teaser:

Solutions from Broadbandtoolkit.com visualize existing fiber deployments, quality of performance, and opportunities to reach the unserved.

Source: