“Broadband in this century must be treated as electricity was in the 20th century.” - Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.)

 

4/28/2021   Why Almost No One Is Getting the Fastest Form of 5G, by Jon Brodkin, ars technica

Verizon “leads” all US carriers in mmWave 5G availability at 0.8%

Phones capable of using mmWave 5G access it less than 1% of the time.

Average download speeds on mmWave 5G:

  • 232.7Mbps for AT&T
  • 215.3Mbps for T-Mobile
  • 692.9Mbps for Verizon. 

 

4/28/2021   Quantifying the mmWave 5G experience in the US, by Francesco Rizzato, OpenSignal

The three U.S. carriers use different names for the 5G services that utilize mmWave technology: AT&T’s mmWave 5G is named 5G Plus (5G+), Verizon launched 5G Ultra Wideband (5G UWB) using mmWave, while T-Mobile uses Ultra Capacity 5G as the name for the combined service using both its mid-band and mmWave networks, but in this analysis we have focused solely on the mmWave 5G component of T-Mobile’s Ultra Capacity 5G. 

 

3/31/2021   mmWave 5G is almost thirty times faster than public Wifi, but with similar reach, by Ian Fogg, OpenSignal

 

4/5/2019   Who was first to launch 5G? Depends who you ask, by Kenneth Li, Ju-min Park

Early Wednesday in South Korea, Reuters published a story quoting South Korean officials declaring victory over the United States and China as the site of the world’s first commercial launch of a fifth generation telecoms network.

 

Verizon, for its part, countered that it had come first. Hours after the Reuters report, it said it had already launched its 5G network and that it would be available on a new Motorola phone - though only in Chicago and Minneapolis.

 

The intensity with which company representatives disputed each other’s claims underscores the high stakes in the battle for supremacy over an industry that is expected to spend $275 billion over seven years in the United States alone, according to Accenture estimates.

 

The winner is seen playing a central role in helping to generate some $12.3 trillion in annual revenue across a broad range of industries by 2035, according to IHS Markit.

 

Some experts point out that the jockeying will mean little to consumers. “The reason you’re getting that reaction is this is a battle of marketing vaporware rather than real network evolution,” said Craig Moffett, telecoms and communications analyst at MoffettNathanson.

 

FCC announces billions of dollars in awards to provide rural areas with broadband access

Charter Communications, LTD Broadband and the Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium will each receive a little over $1 billion.  This would be a lot if it weren't spread out over ten years.

 

SpaceX received the promise of $886 Million to help in its quest to launch and build an earth orbiting "constellation" of 12,000 satellites.   So far it has launched and placed 1,000 satellites. Its pilot program to serve hundreds of thousands of customers in 35 states and Canada is titled "Better than Nothing."

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Municipal Broadband Is Roadblocked Or Outlawed In 22 States 

BROADBAND INTERNET IN MICHIGAN

https://broadbandnow.com/report/municipal-broadband-roadblocks/

Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 484.2252

Michigan state law allows public entities to provide broadband services, but only if the public entity has first sought bids in the form of a request for proposal (RFP) on the project from private companies, and has only received less than three “qualified” bids.The public entity must also adhere to the same terms and conditions that private companies would need to meet as specified in the request for proposals. But doing so effectively eliminates some of the benefits that building a public network can offer residents.

Still, at least one community is working on a municipal broadband network. Traverse City’s City Light and Power board approved last summer financing for the first phase of a municipal fiber buildout. The board approved $3.5 million to serve the community’s first 2,200 customers. The total project is expected to cost $16 million.

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Guns or Butter: Why Northfield Can't Have Broadband

It's everyone's introduction to public economics.  Your government has a limited amount of money.  Do you buy food or do you buy guns?

Do you finance a huge expansion to your sewer system so that illegally connected sump pumps can continue to illegally pump out Hamburg Lake area basements during once in a lifetime rainstorms?

- or do you find a way to bring broadband internet to your citizens?

Guns.  Or.  Butter.

Faster Sewage or Faster Internet?

Rivers of Shit or Rivers of Data?