General

Broadband Bytes, March Issue 1

This edition of Broadband Bytes includes articles on fiber penetration in the U.S. market, a new definition of broadband speeds, RDOF, and the impact on BEAD, municipal broadband, and broadband “nutrition” labels.1. Fiber now passes about 51.1% of US households, and fixed wireless access continues to make inroads. But cable is still the top tech for delivering broadband. Fiber network deployments have reached a milestone as they now pass more than 50% of US households, according to recent data from the Fiber Broadband Association and RVA Market Research and Consulting…fiber lines now pass nearly 78 million U.S. homes, up 13% from a year ago. Read more2. After nearly a decade, the FCC is finally raising the bar with a new definition for broadband of 100/20 Mbps. The upgraded definition for fixed broadband service could influence billions in federal and state broadband funding…and marks a substantial departure from its old benchmark of 25/3 Mbps, set in 2015. Read more3. The German news outlet Handelblattis reported that T-Mobile is about to enter a joint venture with Lumos Networks to build fiber networks in the U.S. T-Mobile would invest at least $1 billion in the joint venture (JV), according to Handelsbatt’s sources at T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom. Initially, the JV plans to build fiber-optic connections in Virginia. Read more4. RDOF defaulters hinder state BEAD programs. There is a lot of talk about how the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) might make a mess of things with the Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment (BEAD) program. That’s because if a location is covered by an RDOF award, then it’s ineligible for a BEAD grant. Read moreUnfortunately, many RDOF awardees have officially defaulted on their obligations to build fiber, or they just haven’t made any progress in deploying the fiber. As a result, the locations that were supposed to be covered by RDOF could be left empty-handed. Read more5. Altice USA has joined a growing list of companies that have told the FCC they will not deploy high-speed broadband to areas for which they won funding in the 2020 Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction. The company said it will relinquish 18 census block groups in Louisiana. Altice already had deployed service in parts of the area for which it won funding.The company said in a letter to the FCC that it was making the move to ensure that remaining unserved areas would be eligible to receive funding to receive symmetrical gigabit service through federal programs such as the BEAD program. Read more6. Municipalities can apply for BEAD. Will it matter? Despite (those opposed to) public broadband, municipalities will be allowed to vie for money from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Whether they’ll win BEAD grants or even bother trying, however, is still anyone’s guess… Public networks have seen opposition from incumbent providers and political adversaries. According to Broadband Now, 16 states have legislation that either restricts municipal broadband or bars it entirely. Read more7. And here is a municipal public broadband success story: Longmont Colorado Municipal Network Now Connects Customers Outside the City. Longmont’s fiber-optic internet service NextLight has now…expanded to serve customers beyond the Longmont city limits.When Longmont residents first voted in 2011 to let Longmont provide municipal internet service, the ballot issue allowed it to be built anywhere in the Longmont Power & Communications electric service area, which included some outlying neighborhoods. However, the bond issue that funded the initial build from 2014-2017 could only be used for construction within Longmont city limits. Colorado widened the potential options for growth in 2023 when it repealed the state’s restrictions on municipal broadband, allowing communities to explore all their choices and permitting municipal networks like NextLight to grow without being limited to a particular service footprint.  Read more8. The FCC’s new broadband ‘nutrition’ labels are designed to inject clarity into the often confusing process of shopping for broadband. As previously reported, The FCC has introduced a new regulatory requirement for internet service providers (ISPs) to display “broadband nutrition labels.” The initiative is a key component of the wider Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and mirrors the concept of nutrition labels on food products, providing a standardized format for ISPs to present critical information about their broadband services.The labels aim to enhance transparency and promote fair competition. ISPs with more than 100,000 subscriber lines are required to comply with the new labeling regulations by April 10, 2024. Smaller ISPs have a slightly extended timeline, with a compliance deadline set for Oct. 10, 2024. Read more   Broadband Bytes is a regular feature by David Levine of UCL Swift. David is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, a certified BICSI RCDD,and a 35-year industry veteran in fiber and copper solutions.He currently works as a Business Development Manager for UCL Swift.

Apr 11, 2024

General

Broadband Bytes, February Issue 2

1. NTIA Finalizes BEAD ‘Buy America’ Waivers. With the waiver now finalized, the NTIA is waiving a program requirement that certain electronics and equipment used in broadband projects funded by the BEAD program be domestically sourced in the United States. Read more2. USDA Extends ReConnect Round 5 Application Deadline. The Department of Agriculture extended by 30 days the deadline to submit applications for the fifth round of the ReConnect rural broadband funding program, by pushing the deadline to May 21. Beginning March 22, internet service providers, state and local governments, rural electric cooperatives, and other eligible entities will have 60 days to apply for loans up to $50 million or grants up to $25 million to support broadband infrastructure initiatives in rural areas. The funding from USDA’s ReConnect Loan and Grant Program will amount to $700 million if all available money is fully utilized.3. Charter potentially eyes a merger with Altice USA. Looks like Charter might be eyeing a takeover of fellow cable rival Altice USA. Sources told Bloomberg that Charter is working with financial advisors to determine if it makes sense to buy Altice. But there’s no telling if Charter would go through with the plan. Both Altice and Charter declined to comment. However, according to New Street Research’s Jonathan Chaplin, a Charter-Altice merger makes sense given their respective footprints. Read more4. FCC Urged to Grant Amnesty for RDOF Recipients Nearly 70 broadband experts, internet service providers, state and local officials, and nonprofits jointly urged the Federal Communications Commission Wednesday to grant limited amnesty to RDOF recipients so that those communities are eligible to receive BEAD funding.As outlined by the guidelines of the $42.5-billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment federal initiative aimed at expanding high-speed internet access, communities that have previously obtained grants from other federal broadband initiatives, including the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunities Fund and Connect America Fund II, are ineligible from accessing any portion of the funding allocated under BEAD.5. Alabama is getting a major open-access fiber boost via private investment. Meridiam, an infrastructure investment firm, is kicking off a $230 million project to build an open-access network that will reach 17 Alabama cities, including Selma and Demopolis. Read more   Broadband Bytes is a regular feature by David Levine of UCL Swift. David is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, a certified BICSI RCDD,and a 35-year industry veteran in fiber and copper solutions.He currently works as a Business Development Manager for UCL Swift.

Apr 01, 2024

General

Broadband Bytes, February Issue 1

For this week’s Broadband Bytes, the first 3 articles are interesting in that they cover topics that ISPs must deal with and factor into their budgets outside the scope of what we usually deal with (price and labor costs).This article gives a good summary of the challenge process for BEAD, which most states are currently evaluating or will be soon. 1. What exactly is the BEAD challenge process what steps must ISPs take to make sure they are not building in a location that is covered by another BEAD-funded service provider? And why does the BEAD challenge process matter to ISPs? Tarana Wireless hosted a recent webinar to address these questions for ISPs. Read More 2. Seven telecom organizations filed comments to the FCC Tuesday opposing an electric utility association’s reconsideration petition, which attempts to remove some of the pole attachment reforms the FCC adopted in December.  The December ruling requires pole owners to share in the costs of preparing utility poles for replacement even if they are considered “grandfathered” – meaning they were installed or existed before certain regulations were enacted. This ruling found that when an attacher requests access to a pole that is out of compliance with current safety standards, replacing the pole is “not necessitated solely” by the attacher’s request, and both the pole owner and the attacher who wants access to a pole must share in replacement costs. Read More3. The Georgia House passed a measure on 2/13/24 that would exempt certain federal grants for broadband investment from state income taxes, passing by a vote of 162-1. If enacted, the legislation would waive state income taxes on any grant acquired through the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment program or the American Rescue Plan Act, retroactively effective from January 2022. The bill must now pass through the state Senate. Read More4. Fixed Wireless Access providers, led by T-Mobile and Verizon, added nearly one million Internet subscribers in the fourth quarter last year while many wireline rivals moved in the opposite direction by losing thousands of customers. Nevertheless, Gregory B. Maffei, President & Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Broadband Corp., believes that FWA providers can’t sustain their growth curve because their networks do not have sufficient spectrum capacity. Comcast President Michael Cavanagh has said his company is focused more on competition from fiber network overbuilders than FWA providers. Read More5. LTD Broadband has filed a petition for review of the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to deny its funding as part of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. LTD was initially the largest winner in the FCC’s 2020 RDOF auction, securing over $1.3 billion in planned support over a decade from the $ 9.2 billion program.However, in August 2022, the FCC rescinded LTD’s award, citing failure to meet eligibility requirements in several states and doubts about the company’s ability to deliver high-speed internet to the designated areas. In March 2023, the owners of LTD created a separate entity, GigFire, which operates under a services agreement with LTD. Read More6. Where the first 3 articles cover non-traditional cost factors for ISPs, this article reinforces the importance of the labor savings and cost savings our solutions offer:Rob Laudati, who joined the executive team at Render Networks last year, said fiber network builders often face ballooning labor and material costs, leading to fears that some projects may become unprofitable. Despite resistance to new technology in the telecommunications industry, many firms eventually reach a tipping point caused by market pressures that cause them to look at new solutions to increase efficiency. Read More7. The following funding was just announced. The majority of the funds will be to ensure clean water access. But there is $42M from USDA ReConnect Round 4 that is going to two awardees in Florida: Suwannee Valley Electric Co-op $17,800,000 and IBT Group $24,200,000. The U.S. Department of Agriculture unveiled a $772.6 million investment on February 21st to fund 216 projects in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands which will enhance rural broadband connectivity and digital skills, ensure access to clean water, and bolster economic growth in underserved communities. A sum of $42 million is coming from the USDA’s Reconnect Program. The program offers both loans and grants to help cooperatives, telecommunications companies, and local governments cover the costs associated with deploying high-speed internet networks in underserved communities. Read More   Broadband Bytes is a regular feature by David Levine of UCL Swift. David is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, a certified BICSI RCDD,and a 35-year industry veteran in fiber and copper solutions.He currently works as a Business Development Manager for UCL Swift.

Apr 01, 2024

FTTH

BEAD Funding for FTTH: What We Know So Far

By now, we all know that the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, enacted under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November 2021, authorizes more than $42B to expand high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment, and adoption programs in all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Since funding allotments were announced on June 26, 2023, states and territories have been actively creating and submitting their required Initial Proposals and 5 Year Action Plans. We know projected timelines for the major milestones required by the states and territories and know approximately when funding will be issued. Up to 20% of allocated funds can be requested upon approval of Initial Proposals for planning purposes and the remaining 80% of funds is tied to Final Proposal approvals. Final Proposals are not due until 365 days after Initial Proposal approval which at least on the “timeline” puts it at earliest in late 2024. As my mother used to say, “Good things come to those that wait.” (Unless you are a Green Bay Packers fan in which case we are not used to waiting for good things, they just [used to] happen. But I digress…)   What about the Affordable Connectivity Program?​But what about the unknowns? There is the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). BEAD requires service providers receiving funding to participate in the low-income ACP. But the ACP program funding is expected to run out in 2024. The ACP pays up to $30 a month toward the cost of internet service of low-income households. This helps increase the estimated take rate and reduces operating costs in many of the high-cost-to-serve areas. The Biden Administration recently requested $6B to continue ACP as part of a $56B supplemental domestic budget request. But politics aside, will the appropriation get budgeted? While many Republican leaders represent districts with high numbers of ACP enrollees, do not assume that is a guarantee for passage. How Does BEAD’s Letter of Credit Affect Funding?Also in discussion is the Letter of Credit (LOC) requirement within BEAD. BEAD applicants were required to provide the National Telecommunications and Information Administration “NTIA” with a LOC from a bank as evidence that they have at least 25% of the grant dollar amount in a cash bank account. That capital would need to be set aside for the entire duration of a BEAD-funded project. Recently, several regional Internet Service Providers (ISP) wrote the Secretary of Commerce stating the LOC requirement was burdensome and will reduce private investments. On November 1st, 2023, the NTIA issued a conditional programmatic waiver of the LOC requirement for BEAD participants. NTIA said other acceptable alternatives may include a letter from a qualified credit union, or a performance bond for 100% of the award. It also allows states and territories to reduce the percentage requirement of the performance bond or LOC over time as service providers meet certain project milestones. It also allows states and territories to request waivers for additional circumstances not covered by the waiver where prospective subgrantees are able to meet the requirements by other means. Outside the waiver, we are seeing an active influx of private capital being invested in the industry through acquisition or investment as additional levels of support. How the letter of credit requirement and waiver allowances are addressed will be an important aspect in the selection of subgrantees for the implementation of BEAD deployments.  Why Does Extremely High Cost Per Location Threshold Matter?A third area of discussion is the determination of what is called Extreme High Cost per location Threshold (EHCT).  BEAD established performance standards that the NTIA has determined are best served with “end-to-end” fiber optics. It does not prohibit other forms of technology but established the EHCT which is the point at which a preference for fiber deployment is no longer cost-effective, and thus, other technologies that are typically less expensive to deploy can be considered. But it is not as simple as setting the threshold too high or too low that impacts the decision, it is also the size of the geographic area being served. A large rural county can prove to have an EHCT but if it is divided into sub-sectors, it could show a percentage of it could fall below that EHCT and then only address the alternative technologies in the EHCT areas. (It is our understanding that the states, territories, and the NTIA do not recommend an EHCT dollar amount but instead use a formula to calculate the EHCT by location.) And while BEAD clearly prefers fiber, there are locations that cannot be cost-effectively served without considering alternative technologies. The state of Louisiana makes note of this and has stated it will accept applications for providers using alternative technologies (FWA, Satellite) and will not define high-cost areas until the end of the bid process. So, the states will have a lot of say in this area.   The Impact of a Trained WorkforceLastly, an area not necessarily tied to BEAD exclusively is the availability (or unavailability) of a trained and experienced workforce. Obviously, BEAD and other funding programs have spurred broadband deployments and put a strain on employers to have a workforce in quantity and experience of their needs. There are many entities providing training in fiber and outside plant technologies. There are community technical colleges that do so as well. But don’t forget to consider many of the well-qualified vendors in the industry and review their product solutions for features and benefits that make installations fast, easy and accurate with both experienced and inexperienced tradespeople.  Some companies, like UCL Swift, have developed patented technologies to provide labor and material savings that enable the government-provided funding to go further. The time to ask vendors to come in for a demo or training is now. Develop your knowledge of the competitive solutions available to you and use them to your advantage to make the most of your BEAD (and other Broadband) deployments.

Feb 09, 2024

General

Improving Fiber Deployments

While the desire to bring fiber broadband to more communities has never been higher, the challenge will be in having a skilled workforce that can build and support the new networks being built to serve consumers and businesses.As North American broadband providers look to expand fiber networks to reach the unserved and underserved, the fiber broadband provider industry desperately needs skilled fiber technicians who can build these networks.Click to learn more now!Courtesy of Broadband Technology Report.

Jan 21, 2024

FTTH

How Do Optical Taps for FTTH Work?: Part 2

In How Do Optical Taps for FTTH Work? Part I, we introduced why network design professionals may choose to deploy optical taps in rural applications where customers can be spaced far apart. These taps pull a targeted amount of signal from a fiber optic strand and then allow a specific amount of signal to drop off to the subscriber and the remainder of the signal to transmit along the fiber optic strand for other users.In part II, we will review how optical taps distribute that signal, differ from Passive Optical Splitters (PON), and why they are a popular choice for rural network designs.Taps allow the service provider to deploy fewer optical fibers in rural applications since multiple users can tap into a single optical fiber.Higher-density urban and suburban FTTH networks often use a PON design. Standard PON networks are typically made with passive optical splitters. These splitters have a single incoming fiber (input) and split its signal up to typically 32 subscribers with a single fiber to each user (output). The passive optical splitter is used to take the signal and split it downstream to multiple users. The splitters are in ratios of 1:2, 1:4, 1:8, 1:16, or 1:32 (1:64 is available but less common). They take the single input and distribute it into symmetrical outputs (e.g., a 1×8 splitter takes one signal in and 8 signals out.) These splitters can be centralized or cascaded and distributed in the network. A distributed splitter-based PON network is a cost-effective design for urban and higher-density FTTH networks as it utilizes fewer switch ports, less fiber cabling, and unpowered splitters. This reduces capital and operational expenses for these point-to-multi-point networks compared to point-to-point Active Optical Networks. Graphic courtesy of The Fiber Optic Association www.thefoa.orgHowever, in rural markets, the subscriber density is lower, and the distances to connect them are longer. In these applications, a TAP network may be a more suitable design. In a TAP network, the fiber is deployed through the service area, and fiber optic taps divert optical signals to the subscriber. These taps can be thought of as distinct from the splitter.The output is not symmetrical like the splitters we noted above. The optic tap is spliced onto the fiber which splits off a portion of the signal, say, for example, 10%, and it passes the remaining 90% along to the next drops. The tap allows a pre-determined ratio of the signal to continue down the line to the next home or business.Multiple taps can be spliced onto the line and “daisy chained” along the route until the signal or loss budget is fully used up. Taps allow the service provider to deploy fewer optical fibers in rural applications since multiple users can tap into a single optical fiber.Graphic courtesy of The Fiber Optic Association www.thefoa.orgUCL Swift PSPL taps use asymmetrical 1×2 FBT couplers (Pass-Through) and a 1xN PLC splitter (Drop ports) in which the input signal is divided in two directions. The signal is directed to the Pass-Through port and also directed to the PLC splitter, where it is distributed to subscriber drop ports (N= 4,8,16 split ratios). To aid with network installations, UCL Swift PSPL hardened tap terminals are designed with color-coded caps to designate the tap port function. Blue Cap=Input Port. Orange Cap=Through Port. Black Cap=Output/drop port.Asymmetric optical tap solutions like UCL Swift’s require less fiber than a distributed splitter configuration.As mentioned in Part I, when you add more taps to the circuit, you reduce the amount of signal passing from one to the next. Eventually, as the circuit is populated with more and more taps and the signal is siphoned off for the associated users, the signal will become too weak to meet the system’s minimum performance requirements.At that time, the fiber optic strand is fully utilized and another strand must be used for additional users. So as with all fiber networks, the network designer needs to calculate the link loss budget to make sure the design does not exceed the limits.Rural areas provide different challenges than urban or suburban topologies in FTTH design, and the network engineer needs to consider all the options best suited for the location being served. The long distances to connect rural areas can contribute to the high amount of fiber required to serve that area. A key benefit of tap architecture is the reduction in the amount of fiber required, which allows the region to be served at a lower cost.Asymmetric optical tap solutions like UCL Swift’s require less fiber than a distributed splitter configuration. By using signal splitting, taps with established split ratios allow the use of fewer fibers than conventional centralized and distributed splitter architectures.This provides a network that reduces expenses on equipment and labor and is easy to maintain and expand. As such, optical tap networks are a cost-effective, operationally efficient design option for these applications.

Jan 21, 2024