Access Providers

America’s Broadband Blind Spot: Audit Reveals Millions More Offline Than FCC Reports

A new audit has sharply challenged the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) broadband availability estimates, revealing that 26 million Americans lack access to fixed 100/20 Mbps internet, 6.4 million more than the FCC claims. more

Increasing Broadband Price Competition Across the US

Competition has been creeping into broadband pricing for the last several years as cable companies have been using low introductory rates to try to win new customers and offering similarly low prices to try to keep them. Anybody who competes against the big cable companies will tell you that cable companies have been competing for years by offering two-year promotional prices to keep customers. However, competition might have gone into a new gear recently... more

Increased Attacks Against ISP Networks

Netscout recently released its latest Threat Intelligence Report that documents DDoS attacks in the second half of 2024. As has been the trend for many years, the largest target of DDoS attacks has been ISP networks. There were over 8.9 million DDoS attacks documented in the second half of last year, up 12.75% over the first half of the year. more

Amazon’s Satellite Ambitions Finally Lift Off: Project Kuiper Enters the Low-Earth Orbit Race

After several delays due to bad weather, Amazon's Project Kuiper finally launched its first batch of low-orbit broadband satellites on April 28. The company says it is in communication with all 27 new satellites. Amazon used a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket launched from Cape Canaveral. Amazon is under pressure to get the launches going and has a commitment to the FCC to launch 1,618 satellites by July 2026. more

A Spectrum Crisis?

CTIA, the trade association for cellular companies, published a recent blog titled, "The Looming Spectrum Crisis". The blog quotes a study from Accenture that concludes that a lack of spectrum for 5G is reaching a point of crisis. The Accenture study says that cellular networks will be unable to meet nearly one-fourth of peak-period requests for connection as soon as 2027. more

Speed Isn’t Everything: The Other Metrics That Matter in Broadband

The marketing area of the broadband industry spends a lot of time convincing folks that the most important part of a broadband product is download speed. This makes sense if fiber and cable are competing in a market against slower technologies. But it seems like most advertising about speed is to convince existing customers to upgrade to faster speeds. While download speed is performance, the industry doesn't spend much time talking about the other important attributes of broadband. more

Reviling Universal Service Subsidies and Then Showcasing the Results

Today, the Supreme Court will consider a challenge to the universal service subsidy program established soon after the introduction of telephone service by the AT&T Bell System and later officially adopted by the FCC as mandated by a 1996 law.1, 2 Universal service funding supports access to telephone and broadband service by subscribers in rural locales that commercial ventures will not serve absent a subsidy. more

Starlink Is Critical in Support of Ukraine, and It Will Continue

At 4:04 am on February 26 Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, requested Starlink service from Elon Musk, and at 2:45 pm on the 26th, Elon Musk tweeted "Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route." On February 28 at 12:29 pm, Fedorov posted a photo of a truckload of terminals. (Kyiv is 10 hours ahead of California) and an engineer, Oleg Kutkov, posted the first tweet from Ukraine. more

Africa’s Digital Darkness: Internet Shutdowns Reach Record High

Governments across Africa increasingly wield internet blackouts as a tool to suppress dissent, with 2024 marking a record high for digital censorship. According to a report by Access Now and #KeepItOn, 21 internet shutdowns were recorded across 15 African nations, surpassing previous highs in 2020 and 2021. more

Lack of Broadband Competition Leads to Higher Prices in Most U.S. Counties

A recent study has revealed that broadband competition remains severely limited in 96% of U.S. counties, leading to significantly higher internet costs for consumers. Using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), researchers at BroadbandNow Research analyzed broadband market concentration across 3,143 counties and found a direct link between limited provider options and inflated prices. more

Constraints on Satellite Broadband: Starlink Alone Unable to Meet Rural Broadband Demand

In a 2024 end-of-year memo, Gary Bolton of the Fiber Broadband Association said that FBA had partnered with the consulting firm Cartesian to look at the pros and cons of Starlink in the U.S. FBA says that report shows that Starlink currently has 1.4 million customers in the U.S., and with the current satellite constellation has the capacity to serve 1.7 million customers. more

Baltic Sea Infrastructure Targeted Amid Rising Geopolitical Tensions

An underwater data cable linking Sweden and Latvia was damaged early Sunday, marking the fourth such incident in the Baltic Sea, fueling concerns within NATO regarding the security of critical infrastructure. more

Internet Governance Outlook 2025: Unbordered Spaces vs. Bordered Places

At the end of the 20th century, Manuel Castells gave an outlook into the "Network Society" of the 21st century. One of his forecasts was that the world would move from "bordered places" (sovereign nation-states) to "unbordered spaces" (global networks). A quarter of a century later, we see that he was right and wrong. We do now have "unbordered spaces." We can communicate around the globe anytime with anybody, regardless of frontiers. But the "bordered places" did not disappear. More and more states are insisting on their "digital sovereignty." more

Guowang Finally Launches Ten Large Production Satellites

In April 2020, The Chinese State Council's executive meeting declared information technology, including satellite Internet, an important part of the "new technology," and in October, China applied for Guowang, a 12,992-satellite Internet service constellation. Subsequently, a few Guowang test satellites were launched, and two other large Chinese constellations were announced, and one, Thousand Sails, already has 54 satellites in orbit. (Thousand Sails launches have had problems with debris and orbit raising, which attests to the immaturity of the Chinese space industry). Finally, Guowang has launched its first production satellites. more

The Christmas Goat and IPv6 (Year 15)

The Christmas Goat attracted 809 unique AS numbers this year, with IPv6 usage led by the USA and Finland. Despite a rise to 39% IPv6 adoption, challenges like outdated routers persist. As this 15-year tradition concludes, the holiday Goat highlights the progress and hurdles of IPv6 integration. more