FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has set November as target date for broadband map.

September 6, 2022 – Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced Friday that the agency is aiming for November to release the first draft of its new broadband map.

Rosenworcel, who previously said that the map is expected to emerge this fall, said in a note from the FCC that it has completed the first filing window for submitting “extensive location-by-location data” on broadband availability, after service providers were required by the agency to submit such data by September 1 – the day before the release of the note.

Sources collected by the FCC include address records, tax assessment records, imagery and building footprints, census data, land use records, parcel boundaries, geo-spatial road and street data.

The Friday note also said that the commission’s fabric – a national dataset of individual locations that should have fixed broadband – will be opened for challenge in 10 days. Broadband Breakfast has reported that states have been creating their own maps in part to possibly challenge what the FCC comes up with.

In a press release last week, Connecticut attorney general William Tong announced a $60-million settlement with telecom Frontier Communications that will see the company update DSL services to fiber broadband in rural and underserved communities following allegations the company was charging customers hidden fees.

The agreement provides a range of protections for consumers, information about internet subsidies offered through the FCC’s affordable connectivity program, a $1-million payment to the state, and $200,000 in credits and refunds to customers who filed complaints since 2019.

The settlement stems from allegations the company was charging hidden monthly fees to customers. A joint investigation by the attorney general’s office and the Department of Consumer Protection found 1,400 consumer complaints about Frontier’s alleged poor DSL service quality, hidden fees, and unsatisfactory customer service.

North Carolina announced last week that $206 million from the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology broadband grant program will be going to cover 85,000 households in 69 counties.

Service providers who will receive funding include AT&T, Connect Holding, Blue Ridge Mountain EMC, Cloudwyze, Optimum, Focus Broadband, Lumos, Zito Media, InfinityLink, and Charter Communications.

“High-speed internet access is critical for people to work, learn, access telehealth and connect with one another,” said Governor Cooper in the release.

“Thanks to this significant GREAT grant award funding, many more North Carolina families and small business owners will have the tools they need to succeed in today’s digital world.” With this win for providers and consumers, leaves $90 million in GREAT funding out of the $350 million allocated, available,” he added.

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This is New Hampshire’s second round of Treasury Department’s Capital Projects Funds, following a $50 million award in June.

September 9, 2022 – The Treasury Department on Thursday announced an additional $66 million in broadband funding for New Hampshire from the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund.

This is New Hampshire’s second round of CPF funding, following a $50 million award in June. The state says it will use these funds to bring affordable broadband coverage to over 24,000 homes and businesses.

The funding will go to the state’s Broadband Matching Grant Initiative, a program which subsidizes broadband infrastructure projects undertaken by internet service providers and municipalities. The program aims to provide symmetrical speeds of 100 Mbps up and down.

“Today’s announcement marks a major investment in New Hampshire that will support families, small businesses, and our entire economy,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. “Expanding access to strong, affordable internet access will help Granite State communities thrive, which is why I led the efforts to secure this funding as part of the American Rescue Plan. I look forward to continue working with my colleagues to boost New Hampshire’s economy.”

Providers that participate in Treasury Department-funded programs are required to enroll in the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides discounts on monthly internet bills and eligible device purchases to low-income households.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, asked on Thursday to postpone a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on a bill that would empower news outlets to collectively bargain for compensation from big tech platforms.

The move came after the committee adoption an anti–content moderation amendment proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Klobuchar’s Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would remove certain antitrust restrictions on news outlets with fewer than 1,500 full-time employers, allowing them to collectively negotiate with large platforms like Facebook and Google.

Cruz’s amendment removes the antitrust exemption if negotiations include content moderation provisions. “What is preeminent to me is whether this bill is going to increase or decrease censorship,” Cruz said.

Klobuchar denounced the amendment as a “get out of jail free card” and said that bipartisan agreement on the bill was “blown up.” Nonetheless, she promised to continue working for a compromise on the bill.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, was absent from Thursday’s meeting (it was reported that he has COVID-19), allowing Cruz’s provision to pass on a party-line vote of 11-10.

Critics of Klobuchar’s measure say that is anticompetitive and potentially unconstitutional.

The merger between the parent company of Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform and holding company Digital World Acquisition Corp. faced a setback this week.

DWAC lacked the shareholder votes necessary Monday for a 12-month extension to finalize its merger with Truth Social parent company Trump Media and Technology Group, Reuters reported. DWAC convened and rapidly adjourned several shareholder meetings this week without publicizing a vote tally. On Thursday, holding company CEO Patrick Orlando said the vote would be delayed until October 10.

The merger was initially agreed upon last October. If it finalizes, TMTG would become publicly traded and receive a cash influx of $1.25 billion. Saturday, on Truth Social, the former president suggested using personal funds to keep the company private.

The delay is just the latest setback in what’s been a thoroughly fraught process. DWAC is under federal investigation following a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into possible misconduct in its dealings with TMTG. Truth Social is reportedly tight on cash and is facing a potential lawsuit from vendor RightForge, claiming unpaid bills of about $1.6 million.

In addition, Truth Social is still unavailable on the Google Play app store, cutting the app off from a potential customer base of roughly 130 million Android smartphone users.

T-Mobile is focusing on its wireless business, while Cogent wants to eventually replace its leased network.

September 8, 2022 – Internet service provider Cogent Communications announced Wednesday that it will acquire T-Mobile’s wireline business.

Cogent said in a press release that it is viewing T-Mobile’s legacy Sprint wireline network as a “complementary” asset that will eventually replace its current leased network. Meanwhile, T-Mobile is focusing on its wireless business, including its 5G network expansion.

T-Mobile closed its acquisition of Sprint in 2020, which also resulted in the sale of some wireless assets to Dish Network.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected close in the second half of 2023.

In a press release Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission announced an additional $81 million in funding for the third application window of the Emergency Connectivity Fund, which goes to help students stay connected outside of school.

This round of funding is anticipated to support over 170,000 students across the country, according to the release.

The $7.1-billion program has so far committed over $5.8 billion in funding, dedicated to support schools and libraries in need of connected devices and off-campus learning options. The program so far has provided support to approximately 10,000 schools, 900 libraries, and 100 consortia, and provides nearly 12 million connected devices and over seven million broadband connections, as stated in the release.

According to the press release, of the nearly $5.8 billion in funding commitments approved to date, approximately $4.1 billion is supporting applications from the first application window; $800 million from the second window; and $893 million from the third window.

The Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies allege no evidence of digital redlining in a recent analysis, it announced in a release on Wednesday.

“Our analysis aims to separate economic factors—demand and costs—from race and income as determinants of fiber availability and broadband speeds, since discrimination requires differential treatment for equally profitable consumers,” said the center’s chief economist George Ford.

Phoenix Center Senior Fellow Randolph Beard conducted an empirical analysis of cases regarding digital discrimination in fiber deployment and tested broadband speeds, which the center said resulted in these findings.

The study challenges the economics behind the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act provision to resolve digital redlining by questioning the implied racial and class-based bias in digital discrimination, it said.

“Discrimination is costly to the firm (i.e., forgone profits), so these results indicating a lack of digital discrimination are consistent with profit-maximizing behavior by providers.” Ford said.

T-Mobile is being sued over an ad that said AT&T only gives discounts to seniors in Florida.

September 7, 2022 – AT&T is suing T-Mobile in Texas’s Eastern District Court for false advertisements about its senior citizen discounts, according to an article from Engadget.

The campaign at issue is one run by T-Mobile on August 30 called “AT&T and Verizon ban 92% of seniors from wireless discounts,” in which the company claims its competitors only offer discounts to seniors in Florida.

AT&T has called T-Mobile’s campaign “literally false” and an attempt to drive customers away from AT&T. AT&T notes that it has not banned seniors from discounts if they live outside Florida, the story said.

AT&T stated that it offers $10 off their Unlimited Premium plan for seniors in any state.

AT&T is seeking damages and an injunction against T-Mobile campaign. An AT&T spokesperson said that “T-Mobile’s claims are outright dishonest and completely false. It is not the first time they have spread misleading information.”

Finnish broadband equipment provider Nokia and Ready.net, a platform created to help providers get a share of broadband funds, announced Wednesday they are partnering to bring high-speed connectivity to more unserved and underserved communities.

Nokia said it will provide its expertise to the Ready.net platform through blueprint network designs and tutorials.

“Every dollar must go to efficient, built-to-last local networks in order to deliver on NTIA’s vision for high-performance, affordable access for all,” Jase Wilson, founder and CEO of Ready, said in a press release.

The federal government is investing billions of dollars to expand coverage to at least 100 Megabits per second download and 20 Mbps upload, including $42.5 billion from the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act, which spawned programs like the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program and the Middle Mile Program from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Nokia has a history of partnering with companies in order to serve more communities and provide internet to those that either don’t have access or are underserved. Last month, Nokia partnered with AST SpaceMobile to expand coverage via low-earth orbit satellites.

Broadband.Money is a sponsor of Broadband Breakfast.

Telecommunications company Lightpath announced Wednesday it will expand its fiber network through western Connecticut, which will consist of more than 70 miles of network.

The company announced it will connect Trumball and Norwalk, CT to Katonah, NY and cities in between as well.

Lightpath’s senior vice president Doug Turtz said that the company is “committed to enhancing our network and services for our existing customers, as well as continuing to bring Lightpath to new customers in more places.”

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