#broadband

#broadband

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.

My father's story exemplifies the experience of long-time AOL dial-up subscribers, who cling to subscriptions like a security blanket, despite better options existing.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) prohibits the government from setting broadband rates that are deemed affordable for low-income access, according to the NTIA.

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.

The Altice deal marks a significant step in the broadband industry as it is the first to utilize asset-backed securitization (ABS) secured by HFC receivables.

Research from Vitrifi indicates that only 3% of fibre broadband operators have fully automated their service provisioning and activation, leading to high costs and customer frustration.

Compared to our 2022 report, projects covered roughly 50 percent more miles, locations, and dollars invested and 91 percent are still building to new locations.

The Better Broadband Infill Project aims to deliver full-fibre broadband access to nearly 1,800 hard-to-reach sites in the Swansea Bay City Region, benefiting economically challenged areas.

"This upgrade represents a shift in networking strategy for Premium Choice, which previously had deployed Cisco core router products."

In its Q4 2024 update, global fixed broadband connections reached 1.5 billion with a quarterly growth of 0.91%, down from 1.44% in Q3 2024.

Neos Networks' study highlights that 96% of UK alternative broadband providers are considering mergers and acquisitions to navigate tough market conditions.