Broadband Bytes Newsletter

The rapid growth of video streaming over the past decade has largely been responsible for the explosion of internet bandwidth use, and the need for enhanced broadband services. From humble beginnings with funny cat videos on YouTube to the current crowded streaming video ecosystem, consumers have largely benefitted from vast, if confusing, choices. But as this article at Cord Cutter News points out, this growth has become unsustainable and a correction is on the way. This correction is being driven by investors who are being burned by the “streaming wars”. Recently though, the so-called era of dumb money where everyone just wanted to get in on cord-cutting at any price. Now companies are cutting back, staff is getting let go, and streaming services are merging – Cord Cutter News  Another factor at play is consumer fatigue. In the “old days”, while people complained about their cable company and price increases, at least they had most of the content they wanted in one place. Now a person may need to subscribe to several streaming services to get that same content and while each service on its own is not expensive, it all adds up.

The support of CBAN’s associate members is vital for helping fund our activities. We’ve had another great company step forward to support us recently – Atlantic Vision Atlantic Vision is a 24 year old USA-based producer of fiber optic connectivity solutions. We are a factory-direct provider of most everything in the fiber passives universe required for a FTTX project: drop cables, PON passives (splitters and coexistence elements and similar), patch cords, trunk cables, MSTs and terminals, splice enclosures, MDU enclosures, and so forth are produced in factories Atlantic Vision operates. Atlantic Vision is TAA compliant.All Atlantic Vision connectorized fiber products are shipped with insertion loss testing results, and are warrantied for 25 years. Our factory-direct pricing ensures the lowest possible capex for any FTTX project, and our lead times are the shortest in the industry, bar none.  Learn more about us at www.atlanticvision.com*If it has fiber and a connector, AV does it better!*

Door County, Wisconsin (a CBAN Community member) is one of the most beautiful areas in the nation, and has long been a summer destination for families in the upper Midwest. Unfortunately it also has some of the worst broadband in Wisconsin if not the country as a whole. But Door County leaders are not sitting back and waiting for someone to solve their problems – they are taking action. Jessica Hatch, the county’s broadband coordinator, provided her Board with an update on the ongoing survey being conducted in the county. The latest survey results show the depth of the problem.  37% of survey respondents are unserved, meaning they have no broadband access available43% are underserved, meaning their internet speeds are at or below 25/3 Mbps (download/upload)Only 20% of respondents have internet service that meets the federal definition of “served”, meaning at or greater than 25/3Only 1% of the county has access to 100/20 – the deflintion of served being used for the new rounds of federal funding There are 19 municipalities in Door County, but so far only two of them have secured the funding needed to improve services in their towns. When Door County began their efforts last April, it was estimated that it will cost over $130 million to fill the broadband gaps. For more information on the latest report, CLICK HERE to read an article at DoorCountyDailyNews.com. 

Most of the CBAN team is heading to San Antonio, Texas this weekend to participate in Net Inclusion. The annual event – February 28-March 2, 2023 – is sponsored by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) and is the largest gathering of the digital inclusion community in the nation. CBAN’s Curtis Dean, Brianna Dillavou, Todd Kielkopf, and Jon Anne Willow will be in attendance along with 17 other cohorts of the NDIA’s Digital Navigator Pilot Program. CBAN will beging delivering digital skills training and other digital inclusion activites in Taylor, Ringgold, and Decatur counties in southern Iowa as part of the pilot program.

Although it’s not naming names, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is reportedly looking into reports that some ISP’s are overstating their coverage. CLICK HERE to see the article at CNET.com. For some time, industry analysts have suspected that some ISP’s exaggerate their coverage in some areas as a way to block other providers from getting funding to serve those areas. Fixed wireless providers have been notorious for engaging in this activity, but cable and telephone companies have done the same thing, showing coverage in areas where they in fact don’t cover. While it would be great for the FCC to get to the bottom of this coverage overreporting, the agency is short-staffed and likely doesn’t have the capacity to do a comprehensive job. As long as ISP’s are allowed to make claims of coverage without proof, these sort of shenanigans are likely to continue.

Mediacom Communications says West Des Moines, Iowa will be the first market where new “10G” technology will be deployed to allow multi-gigabit download and upload speeds over their hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network. According to a news release, over 30% of the West Des Moines market has been upgraded to the new platform, also known as DOCSIS 4.0. The company will complete the buildout this summer and then begin working on additional 10G markets. The 10G/DOCSIS 4.0 technology is capable of providing download speeds of up to 10 Gbps and upload speeds to match – at least in theory. In practice, Mediacom will not immediately offer multi-gig speeds but will enhance upload capabilities. Internet 100 becomes Internet 100 Symmetrical as upload speeds receive a 10x increase from 10 megabits per second (Mbps) to 100 MbpsInternet 300 upload speeds gain a 5x speed boost from 20 Mbps to 100 MbpsInternet 600 upload speeds get over a 3x speed boost from 30 Mbps to 100 MbpsInternet 1 Gig upload speeds double from 50 Mbps to 100 MbpsNew Internet 1 Gig Symmetrical tier introduced with speeds of 1000 Mbps down by 1000 Mbps up A number of large cable companies are also beginning to deploy 10G to try to keep up with fibe overbuilds that continue to expand across the US. 

Registration remains open for the CBAN Spring Forum on April 4, 2023 at Stoney Creek Hotel in Johnston, IA. CLICK HERE to check out the agenda and to get your tickets! We’d like to take a moment to recognize the following CBAN Associate Members who have signed on as sponsors for the event or reserved an exhibit table. As of today we only have spaces for two more tabletop exhibits, 1 break sponsor, and one reception sponsor, so associate members who want to support the event should take action soon! Follow the link above to sign up. Reception SponsorsCalixImOn CommunicationsPower & Tel Break SponsorIrby Tabletop ExhibitorRADD Network Solutions

CBAN’s growth continues! Our newest provider member is Clarence Telephone/Cedar Communications, an independent community-focused broadband provider in east central Iowa. The company operates under the name Clarence Telephone in it’s home exchange in and around Clarence, Iowa. When it began expanding it adopted the name Cedar Communications. They are now bringing fiber-to-the-home in Tipton, Iowa – a fellow CBAN member – and in several rural areas. Welcome to the family, Clarence Telephone/Cedar Communications!

The Technology Association of Iowa (TAI) held their annual Legislative Launch on February 8th, and representatives of CBAN were in attendance. CBAN was one of the event sponsors for the second year in a row. CBAN was well represented at the TAI’s Legislative Launch. Pictured above are CBAN Board Member Tyler Wyngarden (also Vice-President of Strategic Partnerships at TAI), CBAN Board Member and Co-Founder Curtis Dean, CBAN Digital Navigator Brianna Dillavou, and CBAN Co-Founder Todd Kielkopf. Although members of the Iowa Senate could not attend due to evening debate, CBAN did touch base with several members of the Iowa House and representatives of Iowa’s tech industry to share our work on promoting digital access, adoption, and affordability. 

CBAN provider member ImOn Communications just announced the acquisition of a fiber network provider in Sioux City, Iowa a few weeks ago. Now, the company is acquiring a provider on the opposite size of the state.Below is the media release from ImOn: ImOn Communications Announces Purchase of Assets from Comelec Services CEDAR RAPIDS and DUBUQUE, IA €“ ImOn Communications, LLC (€œImOn€) announces today it has acquired residential and business fiber-to-the-premise assets from Comelec Services (€œComelec€). Comelec has provided high-quality Internet services in Dubuque County since 2003. Comelec’s wireless Internet network is not included in this sale.The assets ImOn purchased include a fiber network that covers portions of Dubuque, Asbury, Peosta, Epworth, Farley, and Dyersville.  This acquisition aligns with ImOn’s regional growth plan. During the next 60 days, ImOn will be communicating with customers and working with the Comelec team to transition operations to ImOn. €œImOn is looking forward to serving these customers in the ImOn way,€ says Patrice Carroll, CEO of ImOn. €œProviding reliable fiber Internet service and superior 24-7 local, caring customer support is what we do. We’re excited to bring this same high-quality experience to additional customers in Dubuque County.€Tim Burbach, CEO of Comelec, said, €œI’m thrilled to reach this agreement with ImOn. I know our Comelec customers will be happy with the service they receive, and our team is looking forward to helping with a smooth transition.€ImOn was founded in 2007 as a single-market cable provider and has transformed into a regional fiber-to-the-premise platform that currently owns and operates a 2,000+ mile network that reaches over 100,000 households and businesses. The Company is committed to delivering superior network reliability, unrivaled connection speeds, and exceptional customer service.