Fierce

Cable companies could soon find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place as battles with fiber-to-the-home providers for subscribers intensify. Analysts at Cowen Equity Research noted cable’s standard response to competition from these players has been to lock in subscribers with promotional rates.

Over the past few years, the US government has allocated billions of dollars for broadband, most recently setting aside $65 billion in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in late 2021. While that’s a lot of cash, it might not stretch as far as one would think when it comes to covering rural and underserved areas. That’s where private equity comes in, according to GTCR managing director Stephen Jeschke. The way Jeschke sees it, delivering broadband to every American is an all-hands-on-deck kind of task.

Google Fiber announced plans to move into its second city in Iowa, revealing construction is set to begin in the capital city of Des Moines (IA) later in 2022. The company said it is currently in the planning stages for the build, kicking off the permitting process ahead of actual its actual construction work.

NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association urged the Federal Communications Commission to waive scheduled cuts to Universal Service Fund (USF) support for rural operators, arguing a reduction in financial assistance could force them to raise rates for consumers or halt planned network investments. The organization’s concern relates to the Connect America Fund Broadband Loop Support and High-Cost Loop Support programs. Both are targeted at smaller operators and are designed to make the economics of deploying and providing broadband service in rural areas more sustainable.

AT&T and Verizon have talked up their copper retirement plans, but analysts say the technology is likely to stick around in the US at least until the end of the decade. That’s in part because copper is deeply entrenched in the country. There’s no question operators are eager to move away from copper and for good reason.