The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents 800 FCC employees and thousands more, has come out in support of the nomination of Gigi Sohn for the still vacant fifth seat — and third Democrat — on the Federal Communications Commission. In a letter to Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, which failed to successfully report …
Ian’s Florida cell site outages still critical in some counties with a 28% average as deaths continue to mount
According to the FCC, the cell site outage average on Sunday dropped to 28% in the most affected Florida Counties that saw outages of 20% or higher. Although it’s a severe concern for residents and first responders still performing rescue missions, service had increased considerably since Thursday when half of the state’s cell sites were down. At least 89 people …
Louisiana is first State to receive a broadband planning grant for an expected $1 billion in future funding
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) announced that Louisiana is the first state to receive broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) he helped author and pass into law last year. This $2,941,542 grant is for the planning of the deployment and adoption of affordable and reliable high-speed internet throughout the state. During the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill negotiations, Cassidy …
Topping estimates, all Valmont segments are up in Q2 financial report but telecommunications shines
Shares of Valmont Industries (VMI) hit their highest level in more than a month, gaining 7.8% to $256.53 in noontime trading after the infrastructure and agricultural solutions provider reported Q2 2022 results that beat estimates and raised its FY guidance. In the past five days, the stock has seen a rise of $31.59, a 14.08% increase. Valmont said that it had record sales …
Chairwoman Rosenworcel proposes to increase minimum broadband speeds set by FCC in 2015
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has circulated to her Commissioners a Notice of Inquiry that would kick off the agency’s annual evaluation of the state of broadband across the country. As part of this assessment, Rosenworcel proposed increasing the national standard for minimum broadband speeds and proposed setting a long-term goal for broadband speed. “The needs of internet users long ago surpassed …
Florida and Iowa have just six days left to capture at least $100 million in broadband funding
Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that only two states have not signed on to participate in the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative, which will invest $45 billion to provide affordable, reliable high-speed internet for everyone in America by the end of the decade. Since NTIA announced the initiative, except for Florida …
Rogers’ embarrassing outage prompts industry minister to demand changes within 60 days
Canadian Industry Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Francois-Philippe Champagne yesterday said he has directed carriers to assist each other in emergencies and develop communication protocols to keep people better informed after Rogers Communications’ massive outage on Friday that affected millions of subscribes. “So, in essence, what I’ve demanded and expect the telecom companies in Canada is to enter to …
New New York broadband map sports a high 78% coverage
The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) has released a first-of-its-kind, interactive broadband map to provide the most detailed depiction of broadband infrastructure in New York to date. The map, available here, along with an accompanying report, is the result of months of field assessments conducted by the Commission in the state’s most remote areas, covering more than 80,000 …
White House yawns after GAO criticizes 100 scattered federal broadband funding programs
In a new report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is criticizing the “fragmented, overlapping patchwork” of federal efforts to expand broadband internet access throughout America. The GAO report, titled Broadband National Strategy Needed to Guide Federal Efforts to Reduce Digital Divide, was based on interviews with and questionnaires from federal and nonfederal stakeholders and based on a review of statutes, …
Senators Blackburn and Hagerty champion technologies other than fiber in NTIA’s $42 billion in funding
During a February hearing on broadband expansion and internet access, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Alan Davidson informed representatives that “sunlight is the best disinfectant” and transparency will be a “huge” part of his agency’s administration in doling out over $42 billion in broadband funding. On May 26, he again emphasized the importance of transparency during the Mountain …
Biden favoring fiber in $42 billion broadband funding could kick other technologies and contractors to the curb
The Biden administration formally started its $42.45 billion initiative on Friday to bring reliable and affordable high-speed broadband internet to everyone in the U.S. by the end of the 2020s. “In the 21st century, you simply cannot participate in the economy if you don’t have access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who is overseeing the distribution …
Valmont and Ericsson acquire ConcealFab to accelerate growth and innovation in global telecom
Valmont Industries, Inc., a global leader that provides vital infrastructure and advances agricultural productivity while driving innovation through technology, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority interest in Colorado-based ConcealFab, an industry leader in 5G infrastructure and passive intermodulation (PIM) mitigation solutions. Ericsson, a global leader in 5G technology, will reinvest their ConcealFab equity …
Biden’s ‘USA only’ steel mandate seen by tower and mount manufacturers as surmountable
On Monday, the Biden Administration issued guidance relating to the “Buy America” sourcing requirements under the “Build America, Buy America” portion of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that will provide $65 billion in funding to build out America’s broadband. The requirements in the Buy America Preference guidance, in part, states: “All iron and steel used in the project are …
FCC sets out the nation’s new guidelines for obtaining accurate broadband map data
The need for accurate data pinpointing where broadband service is available and where it is lacking, has never been more important, the FCC said on Thursday when it provided details to state, local and tribal entities with guidance on submitting broadband coverage data as the agency goes full-throttle to develop new maps of high-speed service across the nation. The FCC …
Think tank researcher identifies U.S. mobile wireless speeds are among the best in the world
A constant refrain often heard in the broadband debate is that Internet speeds in the United States are generally far slower than for most other advanced countries. To test that argument, last February the Phoenix Center released a paper entitled Comparative Analysis of Fixed Broadband Speeds in Cities Across the World in which their Chief Economist Dr. George S. Ford compared …
$600 million set aside in Biden’s proposed budget to boost rural broadband
President Joe Biden yesterday unveiled a proposed $5.8 trillion budget for 2023, that included over $600 million for additional broadband funding through the USDA’s ReConnect program, which provides grands and loans to deploy broadband to unserved areas, especially tribal areas. To be eligible for ReConnect Program funding, applicants must serve an area without broadband service at speeds of 100 megabits …
USTelecom releases ‘blueprint’ for $65 billion in infrastructure grants
USTelecom | The Broadband Association, a leading association of connectivity providers and technology innovators, today released a new memo to President Biden and Vice President Harris, Cabinet secretaries, NTIA, FCC, Congress, Tribal leaders and state broadband offices with concrete recommendations to make the most of the $65 billion broadband investment in the recently enacted Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA). USTelecom President …
Four trailblazing pioneers inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame
A trailblazing class of pioneers was inducted into the prestigious Wireless Hall of Fame Thursday night. The event, hosted by the Wireless History Foundation (WHF), a nonprofit organization that has honored the hall of fame members for the past decade, celebrated Pat Riordan, Mark Crosby, Jim Tracy and Ari Fitzgerald. “We were so happy to highlight the accomplishments of the Hall of …
Pelosi’s on again, off again historic infrastructure bill passes with NATE and WIA applauding broadband funding
After months of frustrating attempts to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi finally achieved success with the support of 13 Republican House members on Friday night. The bill, which received 19 GOP votes in the Senate, was dissociated from the broader social spending package known as Build Back Better “Tonight, we took a monumental step forward as a …
Fischer amendment on broadband will create multi-agency mapping tool for deployment
Organizations and industry groups released statements supporting an amendment sponsored by U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, that passed unanimously during the Senate’s consideration of the bipartisan infrastructure package. The amendment will increase transparency by directing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to create a publicly accessible online mapping tool for broadband infrastructure deployment. This …
