BBWN Bites: Charter Seeks US Expansion With Biz-Focused High-Speed Internet Service
Also today, Arizona governor promises $100 million for rural broadband, Atlantic Broadband buys yet another local provider, cable bundles keep wholesale carriers busy and more from fixed-broadband operators BT and Deutsche Glasfaser.
Charter Communications introduced a high-speed Internet service for national businesses served by Spectrum Business National Accounts, targeted at enterprises with a presence inside and outside Charter's current 41-state network footprint. The Spectrum division serves regional and national franchises, large retailers and the growing number of businesses with many telecommuters. The first offer includes multiple speed tiers bundled with features like security and custom email accounts; whether or not Charter provides connectivity, the subscriber pays one bill to simplify the process for corporate customers. (See the full story on sister site Light Reading: Charter Goes Out-of-Footprint With New Internet Service for Large Businesses .)
Kicking Off a Decade of Investment
During a speech, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (pictured) shared several of his administration's initiatives, including one plan to expand high-speed broadband into rural and tribal areas of the state.
(Photos courtesy Governor Doug Ducey.)
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey on Monday announced the state will almost triple its investment in rural broadband grants to $50 million and spend another $50 million in Smart Highway Corridors so the Arizona Department of Transportation can install 500-plus miles of broadband conduit and fiber-optic cable along rural interstates. Expected use cases span highway safety, smart infrastructure and broadband for rural and tribal Arizona residents and SMBs.
Atlantic Broadband said it's buying Thames Valley Communication for $50 million, which will allow it to reach approximately 10,000 new customers in Connecticut.
Wholesale carriers terminated about 327 billion minutes of traffic in 2018, a drop of 3% from the prior year, according to Patrick Christian, principal analyst at TeleGeography. MVNOs, cable broadband providers and other service providers heavily rely on wholesale carriers to transport and terminate customers' international calls as part of their bundled services.
BT's semi-autonomous network access division Openreach lowered the qualification requirements for its new FTTP installation. It's dropped one-third: Developments of 20 or more houses can now get free FTTP deployed, versus the prior minimum of a 30 new home-build.
Fiber-only provider Deutsche Glasfaser increased its debt financing facilities to €1.8 billion ($2 billion), which attracted 16 institutions' support. DG will use the funds to finance its ongoing fiber deployment, passing more than 1 million premises this year, primarily in its non-urban footprint.
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— Alison Diana, Editor, Broadband World News
(Home page art: Christina Morillo / Pexels)
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Here's where you can find episode links for 'The Divide,' Light Reading's podcast series featuring conversations with broadband providers and policymakers working to close the digital divide.
As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will present our Cable Next-Gen Europe conference as a free digital symposium on June 21.
Charter has sparked RDOF work in all 24 states where it won bids. The cable op booked about $19 million in RDOF revenues in Q1, and expects to have about $9 million per month come in over the next ten years.
As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will stage the Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies conference as a free digital event over two half-days in mid-March.
Launch of 2-Gig and 5-Gig FTTP tiers in 70-plus markets puts more pressure on cable ops to enhance their existing DOCSIS 3.1 network or accelerate their upgrade activity centered on the new DOCSIS 4.0 specs.
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