The United States government has released two new broadband funding initiatives which would help provide temporary relief after the pandemic brought unwelcomed stress on the nation’s broadband infrastructure. This also highlighted the millions of Americans who were left struggling with no internet while we made the overnight shift to virtual school, telemedicine, and remote work. Of the $10 billion being allotted to bring Americans more affordable internet, $ 3.2 billion will pay $50 per month to cover costs for all Americans who lost some income in the last year and earn less than $198,000. Recipients of food stamps, Medicaid, federal Pell grant, and others are also eligible. The other $7 billion will go towards a federal program that will aim to help schools and libraries… read more

Many students have struggled with reliable internet access during the pandemic, according to a new report from EDUCAUSE. The association for IT professionals in higher education surveyed 8,392 students from 54 United States institutions about their experiences with technology in fall 2020 — their learning environments, instructors’ use of technology, problems with devices or connectivity, and more To learn more about the outcomes of the survey and the recommended four steps institutional leaders can take to address students technology and connectivity needs click below. Click for Full Article… read more

Regulation A+, also known as “Mini-IPO” is a fairly new investment class which has opened the door for the everyday investor to participate in private placement opportunities. Enacted in 2015, Regulation A+ allows private companies to raise up to $50 million from both accredited and non-accredited investors through general solicitation. In a Reg A+ offering, a company raises investment capital by creating a new class of stock that can be bought and sold on a secondary market (such as national exchange or OTC Markets) by the general public. The offering can also be combined with venture capital, allowing the company to create an even larger raise during the funding round. To learn more on Regulation A+ offerings, read the full article by Investor News by… read more

As more than 9 million students still lack access to reliable home broadband connectivity, school districts and municipalities are seeking solutions that will get all their students connected as they continue with their digital learning efforts. Many school districts are resorting to the use of Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) connectivity in building private networks which would provide high-speed home internet services straight to the homes of students and staff. CBRS networks operate through the use of the 3.5 GHZ spectrum mid-band for shared public and private use. These private networks provide LTE and 5G connectivity, which guarantees all students within range seamless access to live video lectures, classroom applications, online assignments, etc… Private LTE networks complement both public cellular and existing Wi-Fi and even… read more

  Gartner Inc, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms conducted a study which concluded the Worldwide 5G network infrastructure market revenue will almost double in 2020 to reach $8.1 billion, according to the latest forecast by the organization. Though wireless infrastructure revenue as a whole  is expected to reach 4.4% decline at $38.1 billion in 2020, 5G wireless infrastructure spending has gone up nearly 96%. In 2019, 5G network infrastructure only accounted for 10.4% of total wireless infrastructure revenue in 2019, in 2020 it’s projected to reach 21.3%. While 5G wireless infrastructure spending experienced growth, it was nothing compared to the 576% growth which took place in 2019. Other segments such as 2G (-40.8%), 3G (-37.1%), and 4G/LTE (-20.8) declined in it’s… read more

The Small Cell Forum (SCF) published its 2021 work program, detailing commercial and technical initiatives to expand the small cell ecosystem, address deployment barriers and evolve technologies to make secure mobile infrastructure accessible to organizations and communities of all sizes globally. The work program is supported by the findings of SCF’s latest market status report, which identifies rising demand for new cellular services and use cases, particularly in the connected enterprise, community and industrial settings. The report details how such opportunities and deployment scenarios will be supported by new types of service provider partnerships involving, amongst others, neutral hosts, private network operators and system integrators, in addition to traditional MNOs. The report projects that, by 2026, as many as 30% of the installed base of… read more

It has been three months since the term “social distancing” became part of the American lexicon. Social distancing now means that distance learning, working from home, telemedicine, and e-commerce are the primary ways that Americans engage each other. Fortunately, due in part to the current administration’s internet governance policies, U.S. broadband carriers have been able to meet the shifting demand while voluntarily keeping households that are unable to make payments connected. Despite its global leadership in quality of connectivity, the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated shutdown of businesses and schools have exacerbated the Digital Divide. In particular, rural connectivity lags and many lower income families lack the necessary digital tools to connect. Additionally, as people are unable to visit their doctors, they need to use… read more

Private equity investors are running the numbers on shared CBRS enterprise networks, which are expected to create new opportunities for so-called neutral host providers. Neutral hosts own and operate network assets and are paid by carriers and/or enterprise customers for the use of their networks. Clayton Funk, managing director at MVP Capital, said private equity firms are interested in CBRS because it can support connectivity as a managed service. “Connectivity will be outsourced to companies who have expertise in it, and there is a ton of private equity interest in that model because it’s sticky revenue, it’s recurring revenue, it’s leverageable revenue,” Funk said. He named Gigamonster and Connectivity Wireless as examples of investor-backed companies that are talking to clients about private CBRS networks. Eventually,… read more

Any new COVID-19 relief package should include funding for broadband, said attorneys general from 31 states, three U.S. territories and the District of Columbia in a letter to House and Senate leadership late last week. The COVID-19 broadband funding letter urges legislators to increase funding for the Universal Service Fund and to make “flexible” funding available to state, territorial and local governments. In the letter, the attorneys general note that the COVID-19 pandemic “triggered unprecedented disruptions to our educational and healthcare systems, as well as the broader economy and core social activities.” In many cases, the AGs said, “individuals were able to compensate by moving online to learn, work and obtain healthcare services.” But in other cases, “longstanding disparities in household access to high-speed internet… read more