Category Archives: Wireless

MVTV Wireless helps out Frontier customer after PUC meeting

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I heard from a lot of people after I posted about the PUC-Frontier meetings last week. Systemically, people in rural areas are frustrated by lack of choice and competition in broadband providers.

I did hear one happy ending story from MVTV Wireless, a provider that offers another option in some areas. Julie Foote, at MVTV, had reached out to someone who gave public comments at the meeting and was able to get them a better connection. I wanted to share the story – especially if it helps connect someone else to the broadband they need. Here is the Q&A on it…

How did Joe connect with you?  I reached out to Joe after reading the Blandin Blog. I was able to track him down thru work (googled him and found his LinkedIn account). Joe was surprised by how much attention the article was getting, and seemed to be glad that it was making a positive impact. Joe had never heard of MVTV Wireless Internet but was willing to give us a try. He agreed to allow our tech to check his location for Line Of Sight (LOS).

How were you able to help? Signal was available from our Worthington Access Point (AP), our tech installed the radio and Joe’s family now has 25Mbps!

As a member-owned not-for-profit Cooperative, if we had not been able to find LOS to Joe’s home, we would have tracked it as a ‘miss’ and continued to work on a solution if possible. …cause that’s what coops do. We focus on member needs.

This is how MVTV determines where we need to build/expand to next. Each new community is served due to an expressed need for alternative broadband internet choices. This practice enables us to go where we are needed and not waste resources on areas already being served sufficiently.

What speeds and prices are available? MVTV Wireless Internet provides unlimited fixed wireless broadband internet service at speeds ranging from 5Mbps to 25Mpbs. If a business were to need more speed, our Business Sales Team would work with them to find the appropriate technology for their bandwidth needs and mission critical tech support. For a list of plans, go to https://www.mvtvwireless.com/our-products/wireless-internet/ or call our office in Granite Falls at 320-564-4807. The prices listed are exactly what you pay. …no hidden fees. And we do not have contracts.

And how would someone know if you were available in their area? MVTV serves SW MN and a map of our footprint can be found here: https://www.mvtvwireless.com/our-products/wireless-internet/coverage-maps/

And/or on a more macro level – are you interested in talking to new service areas? ABSOLUTELY! Since our $1.85M middle mile network upgrade (which was completed last summer), we are now able to offer faster speeds and reach more areas. Since then, we’ve been actively back-filling areas we had not been able to serve in the past. In just one year, we’ve delivered service to dozens of new communities throughout our footprint.  Residents and businesses should check back with us if they had tried us in the past. We’ll be happy to send a tech for a recheck at no charge.

AT&T invests over $1 billion in Minnesota since 2010

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Here’s the latest from AT&T…

AT&T Invests Nearly $375 Million Over 3-Year Period to Boost Local Networks in Minnesota

 

AT&T Has Invested More Than $1 Billion in Our Minnesota Networks Since 2010

 

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Sept. 6, 2018 — At AT&T[i], we’ve invested nearly $375 million in our Minnesota wireless and wired networks during 2015-2017, including more than $275 million in the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Bloomington areas. These investments boost reliability, coverage, speed and overall performance for residents and businesses. They also improve critical services that support public safety and first responders.

 

In 2017, AT&T made significant investments in the Twin Cities to prepare for the 2018 Big Game and beyond, including investing $40 million in our Minneapolis wireless networks and launching 5G Evolution in parts of the city. 5G Evolution offers customers a taste of the future of entertainment and connectivity on their devices.

 

In addition, in 2017, we made 976 network enhancements in 299 communities across Minnesota, including new cell sites, the addition of network capacity and network upgrades.

 

From 2010 to 2017, AT&T has invested more than $1 billion in our Minnesota networks, with our investments continuing in 2018. Expanding our network in the area has given AT&T the most wireless coverage in Minnesota.

 

“We are proud of the significant investments we have made in our networks across Minnesota, especially the upgrades we have made to prepare Minneapolis for the future of next generation connectivity,” said Paul Weirtz, state president, AT&T Minnesota. “The investments we’re making prepare us for the future of 5G and innovations like smarter cities, telemedicine and virtual reality.”

 

“For Minnesota to continue to thrive and attract new jobs and innovation, sustained investment by the private sector is crucial,” said Doug Loon, president of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. “By continuing to build state-of-the-art infrastructure in our state, AT&T is not only helping to boost Minnesota’s competitiveness, but also providing residents with access to the latest technologies they want to stay connected and entertained.”

 

The AT&T LTE network now covers more than 400 million people in North America. Notable Minnesota network enhancements in 2017 included:

  • Launching 5G Evolution in parts of Minneapolis to provide AT&T’s latest network technology;
  • Upgrading the Distributed Antenna System (DAS) at the football stadium in Minneapolis to now offer nearly 220% more LTE capacity than at the start of the 2017 pro football season. We also added more than 800 antennas hidden throughout the stadium to help manage heavy wireless traffic and give fans strong coverage throughout game day;
  • Upgrading or installing new DAS at 16 locations throughout the Minneapolis area, including upgrading the DAS at the airport and installing a new DAS at the convention center in Minneapolis, to provide better, faster wireless coverage; and
  • Completing 178 new or enhanced cell sites in the Minneapolis area to improve coverage.

 

By building out our 4G LTE network, we’re laying the foundation for 5G, the next advance in network technologies. We’re boosting network speeds and capacity, as we continue to expand the availability of our network using the latest technology.

 

Since the formation of the FirstNet public-private partnership a little over a year ago, governors from all 50 states, 5 territories and D.C. recognized the value of FirstNet, joining in its mission to strengthen and modernize public safety’s communications capabilities.

 

FirstNet is a new nationwide communications platform dedicated to America’s public safety community. As we build, deploy and evolve FirstNet, we will build upon our current and planned investments in Minnesota to help ensure public safety’s network delivers the coverage and cutting-edge capabilities first responders expect – today and for decades to come.

 

For the 4th year in a row, AT&T earned the top spot in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE’s Most Admired Companies list in 2018. We also placed No. 49 among the 50 most admired companies across all industries.

 

We were ranked first or second in all 9 attributes used to compile the list, including innovation, people management, quality of management, long-term investment value, quality of products/services and global competitiveness.

 

To learn more about our coverage in Minnesota, or anywhere in the U.S., visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer. For updates on the AT&T wireless network, please visit the AT&T network news page.

For more information, contact:     

Mark Giga

AT&T Corporate Communications

612-206-0193

Mark.Giga@att.com

 

 

National League of Cities releases model code for small cell equipment policies

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Route Fifty reports…

The National League of Cities has released a model code that municipal leaders can consult when deploying small cell wireless infrastructure, emphasizing local needs over federal and industry interests.

Small cells form the backbone of fifth-generation wireless, or 5G, broadband service that internet providers have promised to begin rolling out in 2018.

Minnesota came up with a lot of statewide policies in 2017, in time to help smooth the path to 5G in and around US Bank stadium for the Super Bowl, but it still might helpful or at least interesting to see what the National League of Cities recommends.

Senators are asking the FCC about the validity of the broadband maps

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MultiChannel reports…

There appears to be bipartisan consensus that the FCC doesn’t know its maps from a hole in the ground.

That would be the broadband coverage maps the FCC is planning to use to decide where to put more than $4.5 billion in rural broadband subsidies. 

The FCC earlier this year put out the broadband maps of areas eligible for Mobility Fund Phase II money over the next decade as part of its move to redirect wireless carrier subsidies from where private capital was already at work to, as FCC Chairman Ajit Pai put it at the time, “something far more useful: bringing 4G LTE service to rural Americans who don’t have it today.

But legislators are asking questions…

That did not seem to assuage a restless group of legislators from rural states.

Sen. Jon Tester was the most vocal in his criticisms of the maps. “They stink,” he said. 

Tester said he was not sure that the challenge process to take care of the problem was going to work. He asked whether if he gets a text to send on one side of his house, but not the other, does that constitute coverage?

“I can send texts based on where the sun is in the sky, basically. And I can get voice calls…sometime, depending on which direction I’m driving the tractor,” he said, calling out Frontier for getting subsidy money but not spending it. 

Tester said they still don’t have 1G where he lives, much less five. 

Senator Klobuchar (and others) chimed in too…

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said she would take a “Minnesota nice” way of registering the same criticism as Tester. 

Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, a Republican from the equally rural state of South Dakota, summed it up: “I think what you guys are hearing is bipartisan concern about the maps and making sure that we are accurate and not overbuilding [or underbuilding, as Tester seemed more worried about] and that those areas that truly need the help are getting it.”

 

Fixed wireless project in Southeast Minnesota to start later this summer

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Wallaces Farmer recently posted details on the fixed wireless happening in Southeast MN. The describe fixed wireless…

Fixed wireless broadband works in a similar fashion to cellphone communication with towers carrying a signal. Customers of fixed wireless broadband have a radio at a fixed location, maybe at home, on their farm or at a business, that communicates to an antenna on a nearby tower. Signals can be sent through a line of site to the tower approximately 5 to 7 miles depending on the strength of the radio.

And the team working on it…

Earlier this summer a unique partnership between Mabel Cooperative Telephone Co., MiEnergy Cooperative and Spring Grove Communications was announced that will bring expanded broadband access to rural residents, businesses and communities in northeast Iowa and southeast Minnesota. …

With the partnership announcement, MiEnergy Cooperative is joining Mabel Cooperative Telephone Co. and Spring Grove Communications in ownership of Harmony Telephone Co. From this partnership a new company called MiBroadband will be formed.

And the importance of broadband…

“Improved broadband access in rural areas will change the dynamic and outcome of rural America,” Finstad adds. “At USDA, we are always looking for ways to create a vibrant and future-looking community that has vitality and that can compete in a global market. This partnership is creating opportunities for families like mine to be here in rural Minnesota for generations to come.”

New broadband company to serve rural southeast Minnesota

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Post Bulletin reports…

Three local cooperatives announced Tuesday they will work together to create a new broadband company that will provide broadband to underserved rural areas.

According to a release, Mabel Cooperative Telephone Co., MiEnergy Cooperative and Spring Grove Communications will create a new company, MiBroadband, and will work to supply fixed, wireless broadband to areas of Southeast Minnesota and Northeast Iowa.

It also said rural areas typically are defined as having less than four subscribers, and that low density makes it more difficult to plow fiber in rural areas. While still in the early stages, the three companies announced this decision stemmed from the belief rural areas should not have hindered access to high-speed internet.

Looks like they will be open for business this fall…

MiBroadband is planned to launch in late fall/early winter, with services rolled out to the Cresco and Rushford areas first. The release said other areas will be announced at a later date.

LTD Broadband expand wireless service to Kandiyohi County

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The West Central Tribune reports…

LTD Broadband recently expanded wireless service to the lakes area of Kandiyohi County with the installation of LTE equipment on water towers in Spicer, on Green Lake, in New London and a tower site by Long Lake.

The company now has 120 towers in Kandiyohi County bringing wireless internet service to rural areas that lack broadband or are underserved.

The newly installed equipment will allow internet download speeds up to 25 mbps with no data caps.

LTD Broadband uses a hybrid fiber and fixed wireless network that provides fast speeds while keeping prices low, especially for customers in remote or sparsely populated rural neighborhoods that are often difficult to serve in a cost-effective way.

“We believe that leveraging existing fiber to deliver high-speed fixed wireless is the best way to continue to expand broadband availability in rural areas,” said Corey Hauer, CEO.

Looks like it happened with the help of Representative Baker…

“This was definitely an area with a need for a better broadband option — and we didn’t have a solution until Rep. Dave Baker linked us up with Kandi Power. Quite simply, we could not have brought service to this area without their help,” Hauer said.

Letter to the Editor – AT&T is investing in northwestern Minnesota

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The Crookston Times posts a letter to the editor from Paul Weirtz, state president of AT&T Minnesota…

Mobile internet coverage is always a hot topic these days, especially in northwestern Minnesota. That’s why I wanted to take an opportunity to highlight some good news AT&T has to offer residents here.

Over the last five years, AT&T has made 115 upgrades to expand our network and boost coverage and reliability in Polk County and the surrounding counties of Kittson, Marshall, Pennington, Red Lake and Rosseau. This includes 36 network upgrades in Crookston, East Grand Forks, and Thief River Falls.

Just last month, we expanded our 4G LTE wireless network in the area with upgrades to an AT&T cell site on Highway 64 west of Thief River Falls. With these enhancements, AT&T customers will experience faster, more reliable wireless service.

We know residents and businesses are doing more with their wireless devices than ever before, and our goal is to give them an effortless network experience, not only in northwestern Minnesota but throughout the state.

That’s why AT&T is committed to investing in our wireless networks across Minnesota. We invested nearly $350 million in our Minnesota networks from 2014 to 2016. In 2017, we made 976 network enhancements across 299 communities in the state, including new cell sites, network upgrades, and capacity expansions. And we are continuing to invest in our networks this year. In fact, expanding our network in Minnesota has given AT&T the most wireless coverage in the state.

Not only do these investments boost reliability, coverage and speed, they also improve critical services that support public safety and first responders.

This is important because last year, Minnesota opted in to FirstNet, accepting a plan from the FirstNet Authority and AT&T to deliver a wireless broadband platform to the state’s public safety community. We are very proud that AT&T, in a public-private partnership with the FirstNet Authority, will build, operate and maintain a highly secure wireless broadband communications platform for Minnesota’s public safety community for the next 25 years at no cost to the state. The FirstNet experience will deliver innovation and create an entire system of modernized devices, apps and tools for first responder subscribers of the service.

As a member of the Governor’s Broadband Task Force, I know full well the benefits of broadband deployment.

I’m very proud of AT&T’s commitment to investing in our networks in Minnesota, and I’m excited for what the future holds.

Paul Weirtz, state president
AT&T Minnesota

 

Broadband service spreading in rural Murray, Pipestone counties

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The Globe reports on a process that Nobles, Murray and Pipestone Counties have used to move to better broadband in their areas…

The widespread utility of broadband has led several southwest Minnesota counties to invest their time and money into researching the topic, and make serious progress in the process.

In 2016, Nobles County conducted a broadband feasibility study with CCG and Slayton-based Finley Engineering. Shortly after, the state’s Border-to-Border grant program awarded Lismore Cooperative Telephone nearly $3 million to create a hybrid fiber and wireless network that will provide baseline broadband speeds to most of the county and ultra-fast fiber to hundreds of homes. The project is expected to be completed by mid-2018.

Last year, Murray County and Pipestone County partnered with four other southwest Minnesota counties and the Blandin Foundation to conduct feasibility studies — also done by Finley and CCG — in hopes of getting a similar outcome.

Pipestone County’s study was completed in February 2017, and later that year, Ruthton-based Woodstock Telephone received a $363,851 grant from the Minnesota Border-to-Border Broadband to provide fixed wireless broadband to rural Pipestone County.

Murray County is still working on access…

“The county does not plan to build a broadband network but is open to talking with providers who are interested in extending service to our citizens and may need financial assistance to do so,” Rucker said. “Murray County had the feasibility study completed so that any provider who wants to extend broadband service to our unserved and underserved areas could use the study as background to apply for state or federal grants to do so.”

The county has seen significant broadband investment from Woodstock since 2015, when it installed two wireless broadband towers around Lake Shetek. It continued over the last two years, installing eight internet coverage sites in the area, including towers in Lake Wilson, Slayton and Edgerton. The company plans to add another tower south of Chandler this year.

The towers, which are fed with fiber, provide 50Mbps download speeds at a range of six miles, according to Terry Nelson, Woodstock general manager. The speeds and service can vary, however, as wireless internet can be disrupted by geographical features such as hills, trees and windmills.

“We’ve done wireless in a lot of these areas, but there’s still little pockets that we can’t hit with some of our wireless,” Nelson said. “I would definitely never say the county is 100 percent covered, because it’s not.”

An October 2017 report from the state found 99.8 percent of Murray County households have access to 25/3 broadband — up from 50.47 percent in July 2016 — and more than 52.9 percent can access 100/20 — up from 41.56 percent. The numbers in Pipestone County are 97.87 and 79.73 percent — up from 79.36 and 44.54 percent, respectively — but Dawson said the numbers shouldn’t be relied on.

Counties recognize wireless as a means to meeting 2022 state goals, but at looking for fiber to reach 2026 goals…

Minnesota wants 25/3 speeds mandated statewide by 2022. By 2026, the required numbers will be raised to 100/20. Reaching those speeds consistently is nearly impossible with wireless internet, Dawson said.

“The wireless that we’re talking about is capable of that within a mile or so, but you would have to put a cell site at every farm — that’s not going to happen,” he said.

Instead, broadband experts agree the ultimate solution is delivering fiber-to-the-home, reliably delivering 1-gigabit (1000Mbps) speeds.

Lismore Telephone is installing fiber to every household in Leota and Wilmont and hundreds of homes along its 135-mile fiber ring, but it is expensive. In addition to $6 million between the state and Nobles County, the county had to throw in an addition $1 million in cash and $2.57 million in taxable general obligation tax abatement bonds to make it work.

That’s with fiber costing around $20,000 per mile, and the price won’t be coming down any time soon, Dawson said.

“You are already in a state where fiber is as cheap as it will possibly be,” Dawson said. “With 50-foot deep soil, they can get it in real easy. Minnesota can bury fiber for $20,000 a mile, where in a lot of parts of the country, that’s $50,000 a mile.”

For Woodstock, a successful fiber formula has been delivering directly to large businesses, where the return on investment makes it doable.

Details on new wifi connection in and around Rochester MN

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Here are details on a new network around Rochester, Minnesota from a press release from Calix, a vendor serving equipment used in the network…

Calix, Inc. (NYSE:CALX) today announced Minnesota WiFi, a wireless Internet service provider (WISP) based in southern Minnesota, is leveraging Calix Cloud and Mesh-Enhanced Carrier Class Wi-Fisolutions to bring its managed Wi-Fi service to residential and business subscribers across six counties. Through the superior performance of the Calix GigaCenters, Minnesota WiFi has dramatically improved the broadband speeds and cloud-based services for its subscribers, allowing local businesses to thrive and residents to maintain their rural, teleworking lifestyle. With Calix Cloud in place, Minnesota WiFi has also been able to improve its support for these subscribers as the remote troubleshooting capabilities have resulted in faster call time resolution and fewer costly truck rolls.

“In the 13 communities Minnesota WiFi serves in and around Rochester, our broadband service enables our subscribers to enjoy the comforts of rural living while being able to take advantage of the same level of service they would find in a big city,” said Darin Steffl, owner of Minnesota WiFi. “Many of our subscribers rely on Wi-Fi for high-bandwidth applications like VPN connections to the Mayo Clinic to work remotely or for transferring huge satellite images of farmland for agricultural tile drainage. We found phenomenal performance and coverage from the Calix GigaCenters, especially in the 5Ghz band. The GigaCenters blew away all other dual-band Wi-Fi routers, which helps our business subscribers succeed and supports our residential subscribers who are streaming media and gaming more than ever before. We are thrilled that through our investment of these next generation technologies from Calix we can meet our goals of both enabling our communities to succeed while finding new ways to streamline our operations.”

Regulators Urged To Examine T-Mobile-Sprint’s Impact On Broadband

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Digital News Daily reports…

Senate Democrats are urging regulators to scrutinize whether T-Mobile’s proposed $26 billion acquisition of Sprint will harm consumers, including ones who primarily connect to the internet through their phones.

“We urge you to closely review this transaction to ensure that it does not threaten to harm consumers or competition in the wireless market,” Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and others write in a letter to the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission.

The lawmakers’ letter comes one week after T-Mobile and Sprint said they had agreed to merge, leaving the country with three major wireless carriers. Klobuchar and the other lawmakers — Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minnesota), Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) — say the deal raises concerns.

Arvig is bringing fiber to the tower across Minnesota

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Global Newswire reports…

Arvig, a Minnesota-based broadband service provider, revealed today that it has surpassed bringing service to more than 500 cellular towers across 13 states.

Arvig made the decision in 2015 to start working directly with the major wireless carriers as a backhaul aggregator. Utilizing providers such as Arvig helps the wireless carriers accommodate increasing traffic and improve the overall customer experience for now (LTE and 4G) and in the future (5G). The company deploys dark fiber infrastructure and lit service to macro towers as well as small cells.

In 2017, Arvig installed approximately 415 route miles of fiber throughout the state of Minnesota and beyond.

Dave Schornack, Director of Business Development and Sales at Arvig, said, “As the demand for bandwidth continues to grow, we are well-positioned to provide solutions for carriers because of our broad footprint across Minnesota and connections to other providers across the region.”

Sen Klobuchar Urges Dep of Justice and FCC to Review T-Mobile’s Acquisition of Sprint

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From Senator Klobuchar’s press release…

Klobuchar, Senators Urge Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission to Review Whether T-Mobile’s Acquisition of Sprint will Hurt Competition and Harm Consumers

Merging T-Mobile, the third-largest wireless carrier in the United States, with Sprint, the fourth-largest wireless carrier, would reduce the number of national wireless carriers to just three

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) led a group of senators in a letter to the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) expressing serious concerns regarding T-Mobile US, Inc.’s (T-Mobile) proposed acquisition of Sprint Corporation (Sprint). This transaction would combine T-Mobile, the third-largest wireless carrier in the United States with over 72 million customers, with Sprint, the fourth-largest wireless carrier with over 54 million customers, reducing the number of wireless carriers from four national competitors to three. The letter asked that the DOJ and FCC carefully consider: (1) the impact of reducing the number of national wireless carriers from four to three; (2) how the proposed merger would affect lower-cost options for wireless service; (3) whether specific regions, particularly rural areas, would be disproportionately affected by the proposed transaction; and (4) the proposed transaction’s likely effect on innovation of wireless networks and other technologies.

Joining Klobuchar on the letter were Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Tom Udall (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

“As more than three-quarters of American adults now own smartphones, including many who depend on these devices for their primary connection to the internet, an anticompetitive acquisition in the wireless market could result in higher prices for American consumers or force some people to forego their internet connection altogether,” the senators wrote. “Senior leaders at DOJ and the FCC have also previously raised concerns about this proposed merger and expressed skepticism for the very reason that reducing the number of wireless carriers from four to three would adversely affect competition in the wireless market… The Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission must carefully consider whether the proposed transaction may lessen competition or harm consumers.”

The full text of the letter can be found below:

Dear Assistant Attorney General Delrahim and Chairman Pai:

We write to raise serious concerns regarding T-Mobile US, Inc.’s (T-Mobile) proposed acquisition of Sprint Corporation (Sprint). As more than three-quarters of American adults now own smartphones, including many who depend on these devices for their primary connection to the internet, an anticompetitive acquisition in the wireless market could result in higher prices for American consumers or force some people to forego their internet connection altogether.

It is for these reasons that we urge you to closely review this transaction to ensure that it does not threaten to harm consumers or competition in the wireless market. Specifically, we ask that you carefully consider: (1) the impact of reducing the number of national wireless carriers from four to three; (2) how the proposed merger would affect lower-cost options for wireless service; (3) whether specific regions, particularly rural areas, would be disproportionately affected by the proposed transaction; and (4) the proposed transaction’s likely effect on innovation of wireless networks and other technologies.

This transaction would combine T-Mobile, the third-largest wireless carrier in the United States with over 72 million customers, with Sprint, the fourth-largest wireless carrier with over 54 million customers, reducing the number of wireless carriers from four national competitors to three. The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have previously raised concerns regarding consolidation in the wireless market. Both agencies opposed AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile in 2011. Senior leaders at DOJ and the FCC have also previously raised concerns about this proposed merger and expressed skepticism for the very reason that reducing the number of wireless carriers from four to three would adversely affect competition in the wireless market. Former Assistant Attorney General William Baer stated that “[I]t’s going to be hard for someone to make a persuasive case that reducing four firms to three is actually going to improve competition for the benefit of American consumers.” And former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said “[f]our national wireless providers are good for American consumers.” Now that T-Mobile and Sprint have formally signed an agreement to merge, we urge you to closely evaluate the parties’ arguments concerning the potential benefits of this merger, especially in light of your agency’s previous emphasis on the importance of maintaining four national competitors in the wireless market.

We also ask that both of your agencies carefully consider T-Mobile and Sprint’s direct competition against each other as the two lower-cost alternatives to AT&T and Verizon. T-Mobile and Sprint have led the way in offering wireless products and service options that are more appealing to lower-income consumers, including no contract plans, prepaid and no credit check plans, and unlimited text, voice, and data plans. These lower-cost options are especially important for Americans who rely on mobile broadband as their primary or only internet connection. Further concentration in the wireless market could also result in increased pricing network access for Mobile Virtual Network Operators, wireless providers who purchase wholesale wireless network access and offer low-cost wireless alternatives.

In addition to reviewing the nationwide impact of consolidation in the wireless industry, we urge your agencies to examine whether any regions will face disproportionate harm as a result of the proposed merger. In rural areas of the United States, access to reliable cell coverage has a significant impact on local economies and public safety. A review of the proposed merger should evaluate potential effects on competition and service access in rural areas, particularly those covered only by Sprint and T-Mobile. As the parties are reported to have already executed a roaming agreement that would expand coverage to their customers in the absence of the merger, it will be important to focus on the benefits that can only be achieved as a direct result of the merger.

Finally, the potential effects on wireless network innovation are an important aspect of this transaction. T-Mobile and Sprint claim that the proposed merger will allow them to more quickly build a nationwide 5G network. However, T-Mobile has shown that it is already capable of rapidly creating and expanding a nationwide network independently when it deployed nationwide LTE faster than Verizon and AT&T. The transaction would also eliminate Sprint as an independent force for innovation. In addition, we are concerned that the execution of this merger agreement may discourage near-term incentives to invest in research and development at T-Mobile and Sprint as the two companies focus on navigating the merger review process.

The Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission must carefully consider whether the proposed transaction may lessen competition or harm consumers. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Pipestone County Broadband Feasibility Study: building broadband will require grants

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With funding from the Blandin Foundation, Pipestone County worked with Finley Engineering and CCG Consulting on a study that would look at if and how the county might take on bringing better broadband to all corners of the county.

Here’s the executive summary of the Pipestone County Broadband Feasibility Study – check out the full study for greater details and next steps…

Finley Engineering and CCG Consulting submit this report of our findings and recommendations for the feasibility of finding a broadband solution for those parts of the county without broadband today. The county is typical of many rural counties where a substantial part of the county has or will soon have good broadband, including fiber, while other parts of the county have little or no broadband. The county is a textbook example of broadband haves and have-nots—with those without broadband living close to others that have it. This disparity will eventually harm those portions of the county without broadband and you can expect those areas to suffer lower housing prices and become places where families and business don’t want to be located.

Our study area looked at the feasibility of bringing broadband to the parts of the county that are not expected to have fiber construction over the next few years. We looked at three different business plan scenarios for getting broadband to everyone: 1) building fiber everywhere, 2) a hybrid plan that has a mix of fiber and fixed-wireless broadband and that covers the whole study area, and 3) a plan that just brings wireless broadband to the rural areas. Finley Engineering developed estimates of the cost of deploying each network option and CCG used these costs in the financial business plans to see if there is an economically viable model for providing broadband in the rural areas.

For each scenario we looked at a number of different options. For example, we looked at the difference of funding the project with municipal bonds or with commercial loans. We looked at different levels of customer penetration, including calculating the breakeven scenario, which determined the number of customers needed for the business to always be able to cover costs and remain cash positive. We also looked at the impact of the most import variables in the forecasts including customer pricing, interest rates on debt, and having the projects partially funded by grants.

Our analysis shows that it is not feasible to build broadband in the study area without some support from grants. That is not a surprising finding since the cost of building broadband to rural areas is high. This is particularly pronounced in Pipestone County since the areas we studied are entirely rural and don’t include small towns that might reduce the cost of building broadband. The analysis also shows that it will require more than the 50% grant offered currently by DEED if somebody wants to build fiber to the rural areas. We’ve seen this same result in other rural counties since the cost of building fiber to farms is so high.

It looks more feasible to provide wireless broadband to the study area. We know that is not the result the county was hoping for, but the Finley analysis provides for a fiber-fed wireless network that can provide speeds of at least 25 Mbps download to rural homes in the county. That would solve the immediate crisis for homes with no broadband. However, once built, the county will have to continue to push in the future to eventually get the network converted over to fiber.

The county has already taken the first steps of presenting these study results to potential service providers. Hopefully one or more of them will be able to seek grant funding from Minnesota DEED in the upcoming grant cycle this fall. But if that doesn’t happen then there are steps the county can take to be prepared to support a grant filing for next year.

Lincoln County Broadband Feasibility Study: wireless is more affordable but not permanent fix

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With funding from the Blandin Foundation, Lincoln County worked with Finley Engineering and CCG Consulting on a study that would look at if and how the county might take on bringing better broadband to all corners of the county.

Here’s the executive summary of the Lincoln County Broadband Feasibility Study – check out the full study for greater details and next steps…

Finley Engineering and CCG Consulting submit this report of our findings and recommendations for the feasibility of finding a broadband solution for those parts of the county without broadband today. The county is typical of many rural counties where a substantial part of the county has or will soon have good broadband, including fiber, while other parts of the county have little or no broadband. This disparity in broadband coverage will eventually harm those portions of the county without broadband and you can expect those areas to suffer lower housing prices and become places where families and business don’t want to be located.

Our study area looked at the feasibility of bringing broadband to the parts of the county that are not expected to have fiber construction over the next few years. In Lincoln County that means the rural areas served Frontier Communications and CenturyLink. The western part of the county is served today by Interstate Telephone Cooperative, and those areas are expected to get fiber. The study area also excludes all of the towns in the county except Arco since the other towns are served by Mediacom.

We then looked at two different business plan scenarios for getting broadband to everyone: building fiber everywhere and building a hybrid network that is a mix of fiber and fixed wireless. Finley Engineering developed estimates of the cost of deploying each network option and CCG used these costs in the financial business plans to see if there is an economically viable model for providing broadband in the rural areas.

The primary purpose of the study was to determine the breakeven penetration level for the rural study area. This represents the number of customers necessary for the scenario to always remain cash positive throughout the life of the financing. This analysis told us the following:

  • It does not look to be economically feasible to build fiber to the study area without significant grant funding. This is not a surprising finding and is directly the result of the high cost of building fiber to farms.
  • The scenarios that mix fiber and wireless technology look feasible. The scenarios can work even without grant funding, but some level of grant funding make the scenarios safer for an investor.

The wireless network designed by Finley is intended to supply at least 25 Mbps download to rural homes in the county, which is a significant improvement for those homes with no broadband today. Some customers will be able to get speeds faster than that on the wireless network.

However, implementing a wireless network would not be a permanent solution. All of the broadband trends in the country show that the amount of bandwidth needed by a typical home will keep growing, and at some point in the future the wireless network will become obsolete in the same manner that happened in the past with dial-up and DSL broadband.

The report discusses the next steps the county needs to take after digesting the results of this study. These include such things as looking for a partner to bring broadband to those areas without it today. The goal would be to have a partner by next year to hopefully be ready for future state grant funding.