Amazon says its satellite internet service will begin widescale testing of its satellite internet service that it claims can offer speeds of up to 1 Gbps. As explained in this article at Cord Cutter News, Amazon has received approval from the FCC to test up to 1,000 of its prototype dishes across the US. Although monthly subscription prices have not been announced, Amazon has stated publicly that its service will be less expensive than Elon Musk's Starlink service. Amazon will offer three different dishes to deliver three different speed levels. “I think we can charge a low price and still make good margins where it’s a good business for us. I actually am very bullish about that business.” - Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Amazon will start limited testing late this year and a slow rollout of retail service beginning in 2025.
In a move that is sure to anger broadband providers both large and small, FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is proposing a ban on bulk billing arrangements for internet and cable TV service at MDU's. Too often, tenants living in these households are forced to pay high prices with limited choices for internet or other services. - FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking being pitched by Rosenworcel would propose banning bulk billing arrangements by which tenants are required to pay for broadband, cable, and satellite service provided by a specific communications provider, even if they do not wish to take the service or would prefer to use another provider. It proposes allowing tenants to opt out of bulk billing arrangements. Rosenworcel says the proposal would also increase competition for communications service in these buildings by making it more profitable for competitive providers to deploy service in buildings where it is currently too expensive to serve consumers because tenants are required to take a certain provider’s service. CLICK HERE to read the news release about the proposal.
The Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, in conjunction with the American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB), have released a new report designed to guide communities on the process of establishing a community-owned broadband network. "Own Your Internet: How To Build a Public Broadband Network" offers a comprehensive look at the steps needed to move forward with a community project.
Kudos to AAPB and the Benton Institute for tackling the project! It's official - April will be the last fully funded month of the Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP. The FCC issued a public notice this weeks announcing the ACP's conclusion and providing additional guidance for providers and reminders of the notices required to be sent to ACP households. Providers, CLICK HERE if you want to wade through the FCC notice. Or, CLICK HERE to read a great summary written by the Benton Institute.
Our latest edition of CBAN's Member Spotlight is now available for viewing on the CBAN YouTube channel! Our topic is CBAN associate member netElastic Systems, and Tom Mitchell took some time to introduce netElastic to our membership and talk about some of the challenges they are working to help broadband providers overcome. Founded in 2016, netElastic has worked with 40% of the top carriers in the world and many smaller carriers to understand their network infrastructure challenges. Based on broadband provider input, netElastic developed one of the first software-based broadband network gateways (BNGs) from the ground up. netElastic vBNG is now deployed globally and has been nominated for numerous industry innovation awards. CLICK HERE to watch our Member Spotlight and learn more about netElastic Systems!
The FCC has released the results of a survey of ACP recipients, and the data clearly shows the impact that the Affordable Connectivity Program has had. Among key statistics in the survey report:
Clearly the sunset of the ACP will hit rural Americans and low-income Americans hard. While bill in Congress would restore funding for ACP through the end of the year, there has been little action on this legislation. ACP enrollment stopped in February and the last full month of the ACP subsidy is expected to be April. CLICK HERE for a PDF of the FCC's Fact Sheet on the ACP survey.
The March open meeting of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on March 14th has a couple of items of interest to broadband providers.
CLICK HERE for more details on the FCC meeting and a link to watch the meeting live online.
It's been an exciting February for CBAN as we put the finishing touches on our 2024 Spring Summit and see continued membership growth! We've recently had four great, community-focused broadband providers join the CBAN family. The Community Agency of O'Brien County (TCA) is a joint action agency co-owned by 4 towns in northwest Iowa - Hartley, Sanborn, Paullina, and Primghar. In the early 2000's, these communities joined forces to build broadband in their communities and created TCA to serve as the operating entitity. TCA continues to play a large role in bringing better broadband to the area, including building fiber in rural areas. Lockridge Networks is a real homegrown success story! Lockridge operates a robust fixed wireless broadband network in portions of southern Iowa and northern Missouri. Lockridge started when parent company Lockridge, Inc. were experiencing challenges with poor internet speed and service. So they connected their four lumberyards with fixed wireless internet, slowly expanding to their employees and eventually residents in the communities they serve. Lockridge has leveraged Iowa Broadband Grants to expand their coverage and begin building fiber networks in some areas. Long Lines Broadband, based in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa has a long history of community-focused broadband service in northwest Iowa. Long Lines was also a key player in providing assistant to numerous municipal broadband networks as they were established in the 1990's and early 2000;s. Western Iowa Networks is one of the most progressive and community focused providers in Iowa. From humble roots as Breda Telephone Company providing landline phone in the western Iowa town of 500 beginning in 1905, WIN is now wone of the largest independent telephone and broadband companies in Iowa. They continue to grow and play a vital role in bringing better broadband to underserved areas in western Iowa. We are excited to have each of these great providers as part of the CBAN network!
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Broadband Bytes NewsPresented by the Community Broadband Action Network and curated by Curtis Dean. Archives
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