Where’s the Growth?
The Census Building Permit Survey shows a pronounced regional split in new‑home construction, with South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Idaho and Delaware topping single‑family permits per 100,000 residents, and Washington, D.C., South Dakota and Colorado leading multifamily permits. North Carolina’s counties, especially Brunswick and Iredell, exhibit the highest permit rates, though growth is relatively balanced across the state. Historically, housing booms occur in cycles, and the industry anticipates a possible surge in 2026 despite looming cost and labor pressures. ISPs situated in these fast‑growing markets stand to benefit from heightened broadband demand.
The Human Touch
Consumer Cellular, an AT&T‑based MVNO targeting seniors, has surpassed 4.4 million subscribers while many rivals shrink. The carrier maintains a $30 average revenue per user and attributes growth to live‑person customer service and a rapid rollout of brick‑and‑mortar stores. Since opening...
FCC Alert on Cybersecurity Risks
The Federal Communications Commission issued an unprecedented cybersecurity alert for telecom operators, noting a fourfold rise in ransomware attacks from 2022 to 2025. The agency urges carriers to patch systems promptly, enable multi‑factor authentication, segment networks, and monitor vendor security...
Onshoring Customer Service
The FCC is set to vote on rules that would curb overseas customer service for ISPs, cable and cellular carriers, encouraging onshoring of call‑center jobs. Proposed measures include English‑proficiency standards, mandatory location disclosure, a right to transfer to U.S. agents,...
A New Voice Feature
T‑Mobile is beta testing a real‑time translation service that supports fifty languages and is marketed as the first agentic AI platform on a wireless network. Unlike existing translator apps, the feature is embedded in cellular plans and runs from the...
The Rapid Evolution of Transport Lasers
Transport lasers have accelerated from 1 Gbps in the early 2000s to emerging 1.6 Tbps solutions today. IEEE standards progressed through 10 Gb (2002), 40 Gb (2010), 100 Gb (2010), 400 Gb (2017) and now 800 Gb and 1.6 Tb lasers are in limited deployment. Digital Signal Processing...
Technology Shorts March 2026
Researchers unveiled four breakthrough technologies that could reshape communications and data‑center infrastructure. Columbia University’s "rainbow chip" creates a frequency‑comb, allowing dozens of precise light channels to travel simultaneously through a single fiber, promising massive bandwidth gains for broadband networks. The...
Rising Costs of Broadband Construction
The Fiber Broadband Association’s 2025 annual report shows median fiber construction costs climbing to $18 per foot for buried lines and $8 per foot for aerial routes, marking 3% and 14% increases respectively. Labor remains the dominant expense, representing roughly...
New Mexico’s New Broadband Affordability Plan
New Mexico’s legislature approved the Low‑Income Telecommunications Assistance Program (LITAP), a state‑run broadband subsidy mirroring the expired federal Affordable Connectivity Plan. Eligible households receive a $30 monthly discount, rising to $75 for tribal residents, with funding drawn from the State...
A Telehealth Success Story
The San Francisco Tech Council launched a state‑funded program that teaches low‑income, limited‑English‑proficiency patients how to use online medical portals. Participants received a 45‑minute hands‑on session with a digital navigator, enabling them to schedule appointments, view results, and request prescriptions. Feedback...
Broadband Shorts February 2026
Amazon One has asked the FCC for a two‑year extension to meet its 1,600‑satellite launch deadline, currently operating only 212 satellites, while the FCC approved an additional 4,500 satellites for its constellation. The NTIA quickly rebuffed Starlink’s push to loosen...
Broadband Grant Deadlines
Federal broadband grants from programs such as CAF II, RDOF, ReConnect, the Capital Projects Fund, ARPA, and NTIA face hard completion deadlines, many of which fall on December 31, 2026. The federal government has signaled no appetite for extensions, meaning...
Cellular Backup for Broadband
Amazon introduced the eero Signal, an add‑on for its eero Wi‑Fi mesh that automatically switches to cellular broadband when the primary internet fails. The 4G‑only device retails for $99.99 and includes six months of service, after which a $99.99 annual...
Broadband Usage in 4Q 2025
OpenVault’s Q4 2025 Broadband Insights Report shows U.S. households downloaded an average 59 GB more and uploaded 10 GB more per month than a year earlier. Upload growth outpaced downloads, driven by video calls, cloud backup and IoT traffic. Fiber subscribers uploaded 93 GB...
Unintended Consequences
EchoStar exited the facility‑based cellular market after FCC pressure to monetize its spectrum, selling valuable bands to Starlink and AT&T while walking away from thousands of tower lease payments. The lease abandonment has prompted tower owners to seek FCC intervention,...
The FCC 2024 Broadband Report
The FCC released its Internet Access Services report for December 31, 2024, intended to update Congress on broadband availability. The analysis highlights persistent flaws: inconsistent location definitions, reliance on ISP‑self‑reported marketing speeds, and omission of significant Fixed Wireless Access customers. Moreover, the...
Revamped Opportunity Zone Financing
Opportunity Zone financing is being overhauled under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, creating OZ 2.0 effective Jan 1, 2027. The new rules make the program permanent, introduce a rolling five‑year deferral, a 10% basis step‑up after five years, and a 10‑year...
Financial Limitations on Growth
Rural ISPs repeatedly cite financing caps as the primary barrier to expanding broadband, not a lack of willingness. Lenders impose strict borrowing limits based on cash flow, debt ratios, and broader market conditions, which many small providers cannot exceed. Grant...
