Telecommunication

On November 15, President Biden signed the historic, bi-partisan infrastructure law, which provides $65 billion in funding for broadband deployment and adoption programs. By far, the most significant new deployment program is the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, which the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will oversee and States/Territories will implement by issuing grants to broadband providers. NTCA and ACA Connects have joined to establish the BEAD Program State-by-State Tracking Project.

The Senate Commerce Committee will not be voting next week on Federal Communications Commission nominee Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society]’s nomination because some committee members asked for more time to meet with her. That’s another ominous sign for her nomination, in the wake of fierce GOP criticism. And it seems to ensure that her possible confirmation — which is required to secure a Democratic majority at the FCC — won’t happen until 2022.

The US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it has received more than 200 applications for the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program, resulting in more than $833 million in funding requests for the purchase of broadband internet service, equipment, or devices, among other project goals.

AT&T CEO John Stankey forecast a banner year for infrastructure investment in 2022 and told investors he expects the operator to complete planned asset sales despite protestations by some US politicians. Stankey predicted the wireless industry will invest heavily in infrastructure in 2022 due to the availability of C-Band spectrum and new air interfaces. “This is going to be a phenomenal year in terms of reinvestment back into infrastructure in the US on behalf of the industry in total”, Stankey projected.

Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel was reconfirmed December 7 by a 68-31 vote to another five-year term at the agency, but that success didn’t come from out of the blue. She’s been working the phones for a while now. Immediately after President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, Rosenworcel began making calls. She spoke to key Democrats like Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA). She also reached across the aisle to Republicans like Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS), who voted to confirm her.

An unexpected perfect storm of public policy variables is gathering and it could cause America’s 5G spectrum pipeline to run dry by year’s end. Under the leadership of newly-confirmed Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, our former agency, the Federal Communications Commission, is currently winding down a spectrum auction that will supply lifeblood to America’s emerging 5G ecosystem while generating nearly $22 billion in federal revenue. Unfortunately, this is the last scheduled auction of its kind.

A lawsuit filed by a major provider of broadband services alleges that a recent decision by the Iowa Utilities Board has prevented it from participating in the rollout of a $23 million expansion of broadband service for rural Iowans. LTD Broadband, a Las Vegas-based company with roughly 150 employees, owns and operates more than 2,500 communications towers in Iowa and six other states, and is suing the Iowa Utilities Board over the alleged delays.

This Beyond Telecom Law Blog entry highlights the current rural broadband funding opportunity presented by the $1.15 billion “ReConnect” program administered by the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS). Under the Funding Opportunity Announcement for its third round of Reconnect funding (ReConnect III), the RUS will be awarding loans and grants to construct, improve, or acquire facilities needed to provide broadband service to rural areas.

In March 2021, Recon Analytics conducted a demographically representative survey of 1,000 Americans using internet and cell phones, asking them about their opinions and attitudes around universal access, funding mechanisms, conduct, and usage. When it comes to broadband in the US, Americans overwhelmingly support two ideas. First, they agree that fast broadband should be available to every American at prices they can afford.

After years of broadband subscriber losses, larger telecom companies are poised to see subscriber gains in the 2023 to 2024 time frame, according to researchers at investment bank Cowen. This will occur as the telecom companies complete “record-setting” fiber broadband deployments. But the cable companies’ broadband market share will decline only slightly, from 60 percent today to 58 percent in 2027, the researchers argue. Meanwhile, the size of the broadband market will increase.