Broadband World News - BBWN Bites: US House Writes Laws for Broadband Mapping

Subscribe to the Broadband World News Weekly newsletter


Digital Divide Smart Cities Satellite FTTX FWA

Regulations

BBWN Bites: US House Writes Laws for Broadband Mapping Alison Diana, Editor, Broadband World News, 12/18/2019 Email This Print Comment Login 50% 50% In today's round-up for broadband access news, C-Spire almost wraps up Mississippi project, Liberty Global bids adieu to Sunrise, FCC sinks money into satellite, Everstream crosses 5,000-fiber-mile threshold and more. The House of Representatives this week passed two bills designed to answer this question: Who does and who does not have broadband in today's United States? The Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act mandates government to gather granular info about those regions with and without broadband Internet access. The Mapping Accuracy Promotes Service (MAPS) Act "prohibits the submission" of false access info for mapping purposes to the FCC. C-Spire is wrapping up an $11-million fiber deployment in Mississippi, with a press conference planned on Thursday to celebrate completion. Today, the operator is rolling out 6,585 linear feet of continuous-span of fiber optic cable below the Ross Barnett Reservoir with partner and customer Entergy Mississippi. The network spans more than 300 miles across 15 counties in some of the most isolated and rural parts of the state. Liberty Global is "moving on" from merging subsidiary UPC Switzerland with Sunrise Communications, said CEO Mike Fries in a release, blaming Sunrise's board and largest shareholder -- Freenet -- for disagreement over the provider's future. For now, Liberty Global is "excited by the success of UPC Switzerland's turnaround plan and free cash flow generation," Fries added. Liberty Global and Sunrise inked a binding agreement in February 2019, which regulators approved in September. But in October, Sunrise canceled its general meeting, with the deal collapsing. The FCC this week approved almost $89.2 million for more than 123,000 rural homes and businesses in 21 states. Money comes from 2018's Connect America Phase II auction, and goes to fixed-access and satellite providers. Viasat, for example, will get $87.1 million over a decade to connect more than 121,700 remote and rural premises in 17 states at speeds of at least 25/3 Mbps, FCC said. Rocking n' Rolling in Fiber-Deep Cleveland Everstream added 620 route miles of dense fiber in its home city of Cleveland, no doubt hitting a high note with its business customers.(Image source: David Lennon, Pixabay) Enterprise-grade fiber-only provider Everstream added 620 route miles of dense fiber in its home city of Cleveland, bringing it to more than 5,000 route miles across Northeast Ohio and the Midwest US. Via acquisitions and network expansion, Everstream increased its overall route miles 30% in the region this year, the provider said. Velocix released carrier-grade, geo-redundancy features for its Origin server software, designed to increase the fault tolerance and reliability of its Cloud DVR, live and on-demand video streaming services. The upgraded software also improves scalability and flexibility, plus support for high dynamic range (HDR10), 4K/UHD and Dolby Atmos content. Dubbed version 6.0, it's available now. Global telecom systems and solutions vendor Intracom Telecom today unveiled R8 of uniMS, which includes uniMS Radio Planner and uniMS Connected Site. The new modules add intelligence, decision-making efficiency and proactive network-monitoring. (See Intracom Telecom Releases R8 of SDN-Ready Network Lifecycle Management Platform.) Related posts: Service Providers Primp for Acquisition Attention Everstream's Intent to Buy LightBound Fiber Assets Accelerates Entry to Indy BBWN Bites: New Broadband Map Uses Census Blocks, Adds Prices BBWN Bites: Alternative Access Techs Advance You Got Fiber, but No Cupcakes or Unicorns — Alison Diana, Editor, Broadband World News. Follow us on Twitter or @alisoncdiana. Like what you read: Sign up for our weekly newsletter. comments		Latest Articles Cable Next-Gen Europe returns online As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will present our Cable Next-Gen Europe conference as a free digital symposium on June 21. Charter starts to book RDOF revenues Charter has sparked RDOF work in all 24 states where it won bids. The cable op booked about $19 million in RDOF revenues in Q1, and expects to have about $9 million per month come in over the next ten years. Cable Next-Gen event goes online again As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will stage the Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies conference as a free digital event over two half-days in mid-March. AT&T lights up multi-gig fiber speeds in dozens of US markets Launch of 2-Gig and 5-Gig FTTP tiers in 70-plus markets puts more pressure on cable ops to enhance their existing DOCSIS 3.1 network or accelerate their upgrade activity centered on the new DOCSIS 4.0 specs. Ziply Fiber goes wide with 2-Gig and 5-Gig broadband tiers Ziply Fiber, an operator that tangles with Comcast and Charter, has launched two multi-gigabit tiers in 60 urban areas, aiming for all markets by Q2 2022. More Blogs Industry Announcements Skywire Networks partners with Connectbase Thursday, June 23, 2022 Conterra announces investment in Union County fiber network Thursday, June 23, 2022 Telstra Wholesale rolls out Rapid Mobile Activation service with ADVA Thursday, June 23, 2022 Brightspeed announces fiber build markets for Alabama Wednesday, June 22, 2022 OTTC differentiates on security and drives 25% annual growth with Calix Customer Success Services, ProtectIQ and, soon, Arlo Secure Wednesday, June 22, 2022 Viasat intros new plans delivering up to 150 Mbit/s Wednesday, June 22, 2022 Hoosier Net welcomes new member Accord Wednesday, June 22, 2022 More Industry Announcements Twitter Feed Tweets by Broadband World News Information Resources >> The Customer 360 Playbook >> Heavy Reading Whitepaper: Monetizing 5G with B2B2X >> Activating Data to Accelerate the Industry >> Mobile Apps: The Secret Weapon in Creating an Outstanding Subscriber Experience >> White Paper: A New Digital-First Imperative for Customer Support >> eBook: 5 Crucial PON Deployment Questions to Ponder When Designing a Future Proof Network >> White Paper: Top Three Insights You Need To Bring Broadband To Your Community >> Drive Down Costs, Drive New Services Forward: Discover the Freedom of Disaggregation in Your Network >> The Synergies of Disaggregation >> eBook: Make Your Help Desk Data Work for You All resources Webinars ARCHIVED Wednesday, April 20, 2022 12:00 p.m. New York Competition Is Coming. How Will You Differentiate Your Brand? Did you know that fiber network expansion is the top priority of service providers over the next five years according to Heavy Reading’s recently published State of the Service Provider Report*? With this rapid expansion comes increased competition. Like many service providers, you may be feeling the pressure to differentiate your brand. Service innovation is your opportunity to stand out. You may be wondering what types of innovative solutions you can offer, especially as services like home network security and parental control become table stakes in competitive markets. The opportunity is strong with solutions like smart home security and beyond. Join us for this webinar to learn: Why the current state of the broadband market is making differentiation among service providers more crucial than ever before Why service innovation is the key to unlocking the full potential of your brand What types of innovative offerings service providers should consider offering to stay competitive The time to differentiate yourself is now – join us on April 20 to learn how it’s possible. More Webinars Webinar Archives