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Broadband Bytes, March 2025 Issue 1

This edition of Broadband Bytes includes: Carr’s first 30 days at FCC, Congress lobbies to save USF, TX pauses Digital Equity Grants, OP-ED: Commerce may eliminate fiber preference in BEAD and some industry pushback, Broadband Usage Growth 4Q24, Best and worst states for fiber availability and Is Starlink’s new Residential Lite service a value?; Funding, Network Expansions, M&A: Surf Internet new fiber network IN, USDA $26M Community Connect Grant Funding 2025, IQ Fiber $50M+ Fiber expansion FL, Co-Ops have big role in AR Fiber expansion, Riverstreet Acquisitions growth in VA, Elevate acquires TDS assets in CO and Wire 3 $100M FL Fiber Expansion.1. Here’s what’s happened since Brendan Carr took over the FCC. Thus far in his first 30 days, Brendan Carr’s FCC agenda has been largely “down with DEI.” He’s already axed some prior FCC initiatives, like the proposal to ban bulk billing and efforts to combat digital discrimination. The FCC has also opened the doors for more spectrum allocation. Read more.2. Coalition lobbies Congress to save the Universal Service Fund. A coalition of organizations called the “Keep America Connected Coalition” has activated in an effort to save the Universal Service Fund. The USF funds E-Rate, allows rural health care providers to pay rates for telecommunications services similar to those in urban areas, assists low-income customers with telecommunications affordability, and provides support to certain qualifying telephone companies that serve high-cost areas. The coalition is lobbying lawmakers to enshrine the USF’s funding structure into law, hoping that if Congress legislates the fund, the USF’s constitutionality will be unquestionable. Read more.3. Texas pauses State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program. The Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) announced that it has paused grants and contracts related to the federal State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program. The announcement cited the “ongoing realignment to meet the priorities of the new administration” as the reason for the move. “Given this uncertainty, the BDO wants potential applicants to avoid investing significant time and resources into preparing applications until the office receives more clarity on the future of the program from the NTIA.” Read more.4.Op-Ed: BEAD may eliminate its preference for fiber. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Commerce Department’s new leader Howard Lutnick plans to eliminate the preference for fiber under the BEAD program. Rather, BEAD may switch to a “technology neutral” stance. This means that states can award more BEAD funds to satellite-internet providers like Starlink, as well as to more fixed wireless access providers, rather than mainly to companies that lay fiber-optic cables. (While this is another writer’s opinion piece, it covers points to consider re: BEAD, and remains to be seen what actual changes may or may not occur.) Read more.5. Related to above, fiber proponents push back. Gary Bolton, the CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association says if the U.S. was able to string electricity to almost every household in the early part of the last century, surely we’re capable of bringing fiber broadband to rural households now. Drew Garner, Director of Policy Engagement at the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, said if Commerce Department moves forward with changes, it could further delay the deployment of broadband internet by a year or more because states will be required to re-run their grant programs. Read more6. Broadband usage Q4 2024. OpenVault recently published its Broadband Insights Report for the end of the fourth quarter of 2024. OpenVault is documenting the continued growth in broadband usage by U.S. households. Details on the growth can be found here. Read more.7. States show vast differences in fiber availability including top 10 states and worst 10 states. A new report from Reviews.org shows that Rhode Island is the best state for fiber availability, with the technology available to 80.19% of households. Conversely, the worst state is Alaska, with the technology available to only 9.18% of households. The information is based on data contained in the FCC National Broadband Map. The report also notes that 46% of American homes have access to fiber, compared to 82% that have access to cable internet. Read more8. Is Starlink’s new affordable broadband plan a gamechanger? SpaceX’s Starlink has entered into the affordable broadband market in the US, with the launch of its “Residential Lite” service in 15 U.S. states. While it’s cheaper than Starlink’s standard residential plan, the move is hardly a game changer for rural broadband connectivity. Residential Lite costs $80 per month (compared to the $120/month residential plan), with speeds ranging from 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps. So it’s not as fast as the standard plan which offers 150-250 Mbps speeds. Notably, Starlink said Residential Lite service will be “deprioritized” during peak hours. This means customers on the lower-cost plan may experience slower service compared to Residential subscribers when the Starlink network has a lot of users online. Though Residential Lite is marketed as a more affordable Starlink option, “no matter how you look at it $80 is still a high price,” said Recon Analytics principal Roger Entner. Read moreFUNDING AWARDS, FIBER EXPANSIONS1. Surf Internet has completed the first phase of a fiber-optic build in Warsaw, Indiana. Surf Internet has announced the launching of a fiber-internet network in Warsaw, Indiana. The ISP, which also this month secured $175 million in new equity funding and an upsized $300 million debt facility, said work in Warsaw is part of a $4.1 million investment. “The first phase of construction is complete, making fiber internet available to 345 addresses.” Eventually, Surf plans to build out access to over 3,500 locations in Warsaw, and in the nearby community of Winona Lake. Read more.2. Community Connect Grant Program Issues NOFO for 2025. The USDA released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Community Connect Grant Program for fiscal year 2025. The USDA’s estimates that approximately $26 million in grants will be available to eligible applicants this year. The Community Connect Grant Program offers financial support to qualified applicants that will deliver broadband services at or above the grant’s specified speed to all premises in rural, economically challenged communities that lack internet access. Read more.3. IQ Fiber, a Jacksonville, Florida, based provider of fiber-optic internet service, announced network expansion into the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County. IQ Fiber’s initial investment in St. Petersburg is estimated at nearly $50 million, with further expansion planned. The company will establish a local office in St. Petersburg and expects to hire 30 to 35 local employees. Construction of the St. Petersburg and Pinellas County area network will begin this month and customers are expected to begin coming online in late 2025. Read more.4. Cooperatives playing major role in Arkansas’ ARPA-fueled fiber expansion. The Arkansas State Broadband Office—ARConnect—say they’ve now awarded more than $534 million in grants that will expand access to 130,000 locations in total, with most of the projects completed by 2030. Including matching funds, $1 billion is expected to be invested in total, bringing notable improvements to an estimated 875,000 Arkansas residents. While regional telecom monopolies saw their fair share of awards, smaller telecoms and cooperatives have been well represented in the state’s grant awards. Read more.5. RiverStreet buys two TDS Telecom properties and a Citizens Cablevision market area. RiverStreet acquired Amelia Telephone Corporation and New Castle Telephone Company from TDS Telecom. As part of the acquisition, RiverStreet also obtained the New Castle, Virginia market area from Citizens Cablevision, a subsidiary of Citizens Telephone Cooperative’s cable operations. Read more.6. Elevate to acquire TDS Telecom assets in Delta County, Colorado. Elevate, a fiber-based service provider in Delta and Montrose counties, Colorado, has signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire TDS Telecom’s operations and assets in the counties. Elevate is a subsidiary of the Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA). The assets it is acquiring serve more than 16,000 subscribers. The infrastructure includes “a collection of wireline assets, involving a combination of copper and fiber.” Read more7. Wire 3 announces $100M expansion in Lake County, Florida. Wire 3 announced its plans to bring 100% fiber optic internet service to four Lake County Florida communities through a privately-funded $100 million dollar investment in Eustis, Leesburg, Mount Dora and Tavares. Wire 3’s two-year construction process is expected to begin this spring with the first homes and businesses connected as early as summer of 2025. Read more.    Broadband Bytes is a regular feature by David Levine of UCL Swift. David is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, a certified BICSI RCDD,and a 35-year industry veteran in fiber and copper solutions.He currently works as a Business Development Manager for UCL Swift.

Apr 24, 2025