"We are now in the middle innings of the 5G era, and thankfully devices are getting more advanced and more affordable. Mission Telecom is proud to bring the best technology with the best pricing to our partners to help unlock new opportunities for nonprofits, schools, and libraries to take advantage of Mission Telecom's ultra-fast 5G network access."
New York's Municipal Infrastructure Program (MIP) request for applications has reopened and is making as much as $36 million available through the ConnectALL broadband office. The announcement was made by Governor Kathy Hochul. Applications will be accepted through the end of April. Projects must be completed by the end of the year. MIP's mandate is to connect unserved and underserved communities to broadband through open access and publicly controlled broadband infrastructure.
Analysis from GlobalData is forecasting that fixed wireless access (FWA) service revenue in Hong Kong is expected to increase at a "healthy" compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.6% between 2025 and 2030. The latest Hong Kong Total Fixed Communications Forecast set out to quantify current and future demand and spending on mobile services for the special administrative region of China.
The grant will pay for the construction of wireless towers, fixed wireless access (FWA) infrastructure, and receivers for designated student homes in hard-to-reach parts of the Lordsburg area, with the goal of bringing FWA service to 395 student households that currently lack reliable home internet. Internet service will be provided at no charge for the first three years for participating students and school staff.
Speedtest Pulse is designed to help keep user experience high as Wi-Fi moves from being what the Ookla press release calls a commodity status to a key element of increasingly complex networks supporting a growing number of connected devices. "While service providers are delivering impressive speeds to the home, the quality of the customer's experience is limited by the performance of the in-home Wi-Fi," Ookla CEO Stephen Bye said in the Speedtest Pulse announcement.
Yesterday, Altice USA announced it will rebrand as Optimum Communications, Inc., effective today, marking a milestone in its identity as a broadband provider. The company will also transition its New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol from "ATUS" to "OPTU" beginning November 19. According to the company's announcement, the rebrand reflects its commitment to a unified brand identity centered around Optimum, the consumer-facing name that serves millions of customers nationwide.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has taken the world in the past few years, and the broadband industry is riding the wave with agentic AI tools for customer support systems, network management, and construction management. AI has also had major cybersecurity implications this year, both in terms of increased attacks and improved tools to combat those attacks. We'll cover some major reports and developments so far this year. Then, we'll go over some of the most important ways telecoms are using AI.
The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) has awarded grants of $100,000 each to the Pueblo of Pojoaque and Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, Inc. The two organizations were each awarded the maximum grant of $100,000 through the Grant Writing, Engineering and Planning Program (GWEP). The Pueblo of Pojoaque will use the funding to launch an initiative to strengthen connectivity, "ensure accurate broadband service representation" and prepare for future infrastructure investment.
Kansas has made available $23 million to improve broadband infrastructure through the Kansas Broadband Acceleration Grant (BAG) program. Providers will be able to offset capital expenses they need to deploy service in unserved areas of Kansas with state grants of up to $2 million. Applications will be accepted from today, October 3, through the end of the month. The BAG program is in its fifth year.
eX² Technology, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), and the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) will lease dark fiber along ADOT's Interstate 17 - under the 20-year Indefeasible Right of Use agreement - to Cox Communications. This 141-mile fiber segment leased by Cox will directly support the existing Schools and Libraries Program (E-rate) aimed at connecting Arizona schools and educational institutions along the I-17 corridor. The agreement comes on the heels for eX² Technology's first dark fiber commercialization agreement with Wecom Fiber, announced in late July.
Fiber internet has long been recognized as the "gold standard" of broadband technology, offering the highest speeds and the most reliability. In the recent past, it was only available in some parts of a few major cities. But fiber is growing fast: the Fiber Broadband Association estimates that 76 million American homes have switched to fiber in the past year, a growth of 13 percent.
As part of our return to following the plain language of section 706, we propose to abolish without replacement the long-term goal of 1,000/500Mbps established in the 2024 Report. Not only is a long-term goal not mentioned in section 706, but maintaining such a goal risks skewing the market by unnecessarily potentially picking technological winners and losers.
