Joan Engebretson

The latest network operator with a gigabit network announcement is Paxio, which has launched gigabit residential service in Emeryville (CA), based on fiber-to-the-home technology.

Paxio’s business model is to partner with municipalities, property owners and the like -- sometimes overbuilding incumbent carrier networks. According to the Paxio website, the company is part of a public/private partnership known as EmeryConnect, which is “committed to delivering and maintaining a state-of-the-art fiber optic network for businesses and residential users in Emeryville.”

Several other network operators -- including Cogent, Hurrican Network, Level3 and Unwired -- also are part of EmeryConnect. Paxio did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Telecompetitor asking for more information.

But according to the company’s website, the company’s Emeryville fiber network is open access, meaning that other network operators also can use it. The company also sells dark fiber and other services -- including 10 Gbps connectivity for businesses based on fiber-to-the-premises.

The number of fixed and mobile US broadband connections with downstream speeds of at least 10 Mbps increased 118% between June 2012 and June 2013 to reach 103 million, according to Federal Communications Commission data.

The data is contained in the FCC’s latest “Internet Access Services” report, which is based on information collected from broadband providers.

Mobile broadband saw a particularly steep increase in the number of users connecting at higher data rates. More than 52 million mobile Internet users connected at speeds above 6 Mbps downstream and 1.5 Mbps upstream as of June 2013, up from 18.7 million in June 2012 -- an increase of 279%.

Rural communications service provider Plateau Telecommunications said that it has reached an agreement to sell its wireless operations in eastern New Mexico and West Texas to AT&T, making Plateau the latest in a long line of small carriers that have moved away from the wireless market.

The operations that are being sold are comprised of partnerships between Plateau, Yucca Telecom, Five Area Telephone Cooperative, South Plains Telephone Cooperative, Mid-Plains Rural Telephone Cooperative and West Texas Rural Telephone.

The US Government Accountability Office has asked the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Rural Utilities Service, to provide more detailed information about the impact of the broadband stimulus program in annual reports.

“RUS has not shown how the approximately $3 billion in funds awarded [for broadband infrastructure] BIP projects [has] affected broadband availability,” wrote the GAO in a 25-plus page report sent to members of Congress.

The authors also note that “without this information future efforts to expand broadband may lack important information on the types of projects that were most effective at meeting subscribership goals, thereby limiting the ability to apply federal resources to programs with the best likelihood of success.”

According to the report authors, the USDA has said it will institute procedures to comply with the GAO’s reporting recommendations.

The New York Post, citing unnamed sources, has reported that Verizon is talking with Dish Network about the possibility of buying Dish’s AWS spectrum.

But while such a deal would make sense for Verizon, the potential benefits for Dish are not so clear. AWS spectrum includes several different blocks in a relatively high frequency band in the 1700-2200 MHz range. High-frequency spectrum has less range but greater capacity than lower-frequency spectrum making it well suited to serving high-traffic urban areas.

What Dish would gain by selling its spectrum to Verizon is less clear. Of course the company would gain cash. But it would shut itself out of the possibility of building its own wireless network -- and with TV Everywhere expected to skyrocket, video providers without their own wireless networks could be at a disadvantage.

AT&T wants to discontinue offering DSL service to some customers in its TDM-to-IP transition trials, said FCC officials at the commission’s monthly meeting, where an update on plans for the trials was provided.

The company envisions that its cellular-based Wireless Home Phone would replace DSL for many customers, the officials said, noting however that the FCC has concerns about whether the offering would be a suitable replacement. FCC officials also noted that the commission plans to select a “third party” to develop a research methodology for the TDM-to-IP transition trials and that AT&T has expressed its willingness to work with the third party, the officials said.

AT&T has told the FCC that it expects to seek approvals in the second half of 2015 to discontinue certain traditional TDM services, officials said.

FCC officials noted that trial-related development efforts underway at AT&T include:

• How to deliver a street address to 911 using the wireless-based service
• Making replacement offerings compatible with alarm systems, medical alerts, fax machines and devices used to validate credit cards
• Making replacement products TTY accessible
• How to serve approximately 4% of the customers in Carbon Hill who do not have access to AT&T U-verse or to AT&T wireless service

Readers have grown accustomed to seeing Tier 2 and Tier 3 landline service providers focusing more closely on the business market to compensate for the erosion of their traditional voice service -- and now at least one Tier 2 wireless service provider also is getting aggressive on the business services front, albeit with somewhat different motivation.

C Spire announced that it plans to acquire MegaGate Broadband, a facilities-based competitive local exchange carrier focused on small- and medium-sized businesses throughout Mississippi. In the announcement, C Spire said the move was part of “continuing efforts to expand its portfolio of services and diversify its core telecommunications and technology services portfolio.”

Geographically MegaGate would appear to be an excellent match for C Spire, which is also focused largely on the state of Mississippi.

AT&T has finalized one of the deals it had pending to deploy gigabit service in the Triangle and Piedmont Triad regions of North Carolina, announcing that the city of Winston-Salem has ratified a gigabit agreement with AT&T.

Winston-Salem is one of six North Carolina university communities that put out requests for proposal (RFPs) for gigabit networks through the North Carolina Next Generation Network. Back in April, AT&T said it was in “advanced discussions” with the NCNGN about those networks. The carrier said that ratification is currently pending with the other five North Carolina cities -- including Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh.

Winston-Salem is a big win for AT&T because the company reportedly beaten out several other network operators including Google Fiber, which was one of the first companies to deploy gigabit service.

“A lot of people don’t know how healthy these companies are,” commented Jeff Kohler, co-founder and chief development officer for JAB Broadband. Kohler was referring to the 101 wireless Internet service providers that JAB Broadband has acquired since its founding in 2006.

Kohler has 20 years of experience in telecom with an emphasis on the wireless and financial aspects of the business, and he became attracted to broadband wireless because, with few exceptions, he found that companies in this business were “all good solid businesses,” he said.

JAB now has 170,000 subscribers in 14 states in the Midwest, the Rocky Mountain and the Southwest. Kohlerbelieves that makes JAB the largest wireless Internet service provider (WISP) in the US by a wide margin. In total he estimates there are about 2,500 WISPs nationwide, serving about 3 million subscribers. JAB serves primarily rural areas and suburbs that are distant from core metro areas.

Using the doughnut-and-hole analogy, Kohler said JAB serves the doughnut, but stays out of the hole. About 70% of the locations in JAB’s coverage area can get DSL and about 40% have a cable competitor. JAB mostly uses unlicensed spectrum, but it does have some 2.5 GHz licenses.

C Spire Wireless’s new promotion for Wireless Priority Service (WPS) calls attention to an important emergency service with which some of us may not have been familiar.

“Wireless Priority Service was developed for carriers to allow first responders . . . during a terrorist attack or disaster to have access to priority calling,” explained Terrell Knight, vice president of government and economic development for C Spire.

Wireless networks typically get very heavy traffic during major emergencies as wireless users attempt to get in touch with friends and family. Sometimes networks become so congested that people are unable to place voice calls. When that occurs, WPS puts emergency responders first in line to place a call whenever capacity is freed up because calls have been completed. WPS doesn’t interrupt calls in progress, Knight explained.