Nov 18

Nov 18 GAO Says FCC Should Make A-CAM Mandatory For All Rate-Of-Return Carriers As Part Of Antifraud Strategy

A-CAM, Broadband, Broadband Deployment, FCC, Rate-of-Return, Rural Broadband, Universal Service, USAC, USF

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has issued a report on its investigation of potential fraud risk in the FCC’s universal service high-cost program that supports rate-of-return carriers. Among other things, the GAO report recommends that the FCC assess the A-CAM support mechanism to determine the extent to which it produces reliable cost estimates and consider making its use mandatory all for rate-of-return carriers.

Nov 18

Nov 18 OneWeb – Low Earth Orbit, High-Speed Satellite Broadband Service

Tony Veach

A-CAM II, Broadband, Broadband Deployment, Satellite, Universal Service

In July 2019, OneWeb reported the tests of six of its LEO satellites – download speeds of 400 Mbps with latency under 40 milliseconds, which enabled the fastest real-time video streaming in Full HD from Space. OneWeb plans to blanket the entire world with unsubsidized competitive broadband service.

Nov 6

Nov 6 Update On Broadband Funding: FCC Programs, Federal Funding, State Funding

Tony Veach

Broadband, Broadband Deployment, Broadband Grants, ISPs, Rural Broadband, Universal Service, USF, USF Contribution, Wireless, Wireline, WISP, ReConnect Program

This article contains recent news about broadband funding: FCC Universal Service Programs, Federal Funding, and State Funding.

Nov 6

Nov 6 USDA ReConnect Program Awards

Tony Veach

Broadband, Broadband Deployment, Broadband Grants, ReConnect Program, USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided three awards under its ReConnect Pilot Program, totaling $16,399,401 in broadband funding in three states.

Oct 31

Oct 31 November 2019 News Update

Tony Veach

Here is an update on important news from November 2019.

State Members Of Universal Service Joint Board Recommend Changes To USF Contribution Mechanism – Assess Broadband Revenue & Move To Connections-Based Assessment On Residential Services

Oct 23

Oct 23 State Members Of Universal Service Joint Board Recommend Changes To USF Contribution Mechanism – Assess Broadband Revenue & Move To Connections-Based Assessment On Residential Services

Tony Veach

ISPs, Broadband, Broadband Deployment, USF Contribution, USF, Universal Service

The state members of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service have submitted a Recommended Decision that proposes changing the existing contribution mechanism for federal universal service programs. Among other things, the state members want the FCC to assess broadband revenue and move to connections-based assessment on residential services

Oct 15

Oct 15 SpaceX Applies For Permission To Use 30,000 More Satellites For Its Starlink Network

Tony Veach

Broadband, Satellite, Spectrum

SpaceX has applied for permission from the International Telecommunication Union to access spectrum for 30,000 satellites for its Starlink network.

Oct 11

Oct 11 FCC Releases Draft Broadband Performance Testing Order On Reconsideration

Tony Veach

Broadband, Broadband Deployment, ISPs, Rate-of-Return, Rural Broadband, Universal Service, USF

The FCC has released a draft of the broadband network performance testing Order On Reconsideration that will be voted on at the FCC’s October 25th open meeting. The draft Order On Reconsideration revises and clarifies the July 2018 Performance Measures Order, which sets a testing framework for measuring speed and latency performance that applies to fixed broadband service providers receiving high-cost universal service fund support.