The filing window for the Rural Broadband Experiments (RBE) will open on Thursday, October 23, 2014 at 9:00am ET., according to a public notice released by the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau. All application and bid materials are due Friday, November 7, 2014 at 6pm ET.

There is an opportunity for accelerated funding through RBE, which we explain in some detail here.

Bidders have a short window to gather necessary data to prepare applications. The FCC released screen shots of form 5610, along with sample documents to be used in the application process. CTC previously issued a memorandum providing insight on the application process.

Access the full RBE order here, and see our memorandum providing guidance on the original order. Please also visit the FCC’s Rural Broadband Experiments website.

We are available to offer comprehensive guidance as necessary.

We are excited to share that the City of Westminster, Maryland broke ground Monday on the construction of a citywide fiber optic network. The initial phase of the project is intended to serve two distinct pilot areas, which will encompass both residential and business customers. The City fully funded construction of the open-access network, which is intended to reach “to the curb” within the right-of-way adjacent to every business and residence, and “to the premises” in certain locations. The citywide deployment is expected to require approximately 80 route miles of new fiber optic infrastructure.

Because the City is acting as the infrastructure provider and absorbing associated costs, there is a chance in Westminster for a network operator and potentially several service providers to gain entry into what can be a challenging market. We are pleased that we were able to assist Westminster in their pursuit of this construction, and we celebrate their efforts. Below are some official photos of the groundbreaking!

A drilling crew in Westminster, MD prepares equipment and the roadway for work

 

The equipment used to break ground in Westminster, MD

 

An up close look at the crew and the equipment in Westminster, MD

 

Our team has prepared a memorandum explaining the “Accelerated Disbursement Option” in the FCC’s Rural Broadband Experiments Program. To promote expedited build-out, the experiments allow for awardees to receive 30 percent of total funding upfront based on certain criteria outlined in the order. In our memorandum, we detail this funding option and describe the eligibility requirements for receiving accelerated disbursement.

Applications for the Rural Broadband Experiments program are due Tuesday, October 14, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Read the full memorandum here and access the full FCC order here.

CTC has condensed the details of the FCC’s public notice regarding the Rural Broadband Experiments (RBE) application process into a memorandum that reflects our understanding of this procedure. If you have not already done so, we encourage parties who may be interested in participating in the experiments to begin the necessary analysis, build the relevant technical and financial analysis, and develop the preliminary documents necessary for an application.

Applications for the Rural Broadband Experiments program are due Tuesday, October 14, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Read the full memorandum here, view the Public Notice here, and access the full FCC order here.

Our team has prepared a memorandum outlining our analysis of the FCC’s newly-created Rural Broadband Experiments program. These experiments will provide valuable data to the FCC, including potentially shaping future support for rural broadband. Applications are due 90 days from the release of the order (July 14). We believe that anyone interested in applying should act quickly to explore this funding opportunity.

In our memorandum, we describe the background of the program and analyze the FCC order. Our aim is to provide guidance in regard to strategic considerations, give an in-depth description of the funding opportunity, and provide preliminary direction on the application planning process.

Read the full memorandum here and access the full FCC order here.

My hat goes off to my clients at the Urbana-Champaign Big Broadband (UC2B) consortium on the announcement of its innovative public-private partnership. I think the fantastic UC2B team has accomplished something singular—a unique partnership that illustrates the benefits that can arise when local government works with the private sector to find Internet solutions.

I am proud to have worked with the fantastic UC2B team for the past nine months to negotiate this win-win agreement. UC2B has shown how a community can use its existing infrastructure to reduce the cost of entry for a network operator—and by doing so, can attract gigabit service for its residents while also protecting its core value.

As a result of this partnership—which Telecompetitor has called “a particularly good deal for the community”—UC2B has secured an open access fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network buildout that will protect its public policy interest by providing the same opportunity for access to the entire community. In return, UC2B’s partner—the ISP and network operator iTV3—gets value through access to UC2B’s existing middle-mile infrastructure (which it will operate) and the foundation of a significant last-mile consumer network.

We’ve been involved with the UC2B project since 2009. We are particularly proud to have been part of negotiating such an innovative public private partnership—which, as FCC Chairman Wheeler said, “provides a valuable model for communities and companies throughout the country and a demonstration of the creativity that is stimulated when localities are free to work with the private sector to improve broadband offerings.”

UC2B Website: http://uc2b.net/about/

FAQs: http://uc2b.net/faq/

Telecompetitor: http://www.telecompetitor.com/urbana-champaign-gigabit-network-will-open-access/

FCC statement: http://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-chairman-tom-wheeler-stmt-uc2b-and-itv-3-gigabit-announcement

Following a year-long planning and construction process, the first site on the Town of Holly Springs, North Carolina’s 19-mile municipal fiber network came online today—and the immediate spike in network traffic patterns ratified the Town’s vision of freeing itself from bandwidth constraints.

The first live site on the network is a community center, which offers service within the building and feeds nearby community wireless access points. The center’s connection was upgraded from 50 Mbps to 2 Gbps (the capacity of all sites planned for the Town’s network). As soon as the community center’s bandwidth limits were removed, user traffic saw an immediate and enormous spike—from about 10 Mbps to more than 90 Mbps. The Town’s dozen network sites will all be cutover to the new network over the coming days.

CTC is proud of its support of the Town over the past year—from network strategic and business planning to fiber infrastructure engineering, network design, project management, construction oversight, and quality assurance.

Public Knowledge, the New America Foundation, and the Benton Foundation have filed CTC’s analysis of AT&T’s proposal for wire center trials in the Federal Communications Commission’s IP transition proceeding. This filing—“Response to AT&T’s Proposal for Wire Center Trials in the IP Transition Proceeding”—follows up on an earlier report we prepared on behalf of Public Knowledge —“A Brief Assessment of Engineering Issues Related to Trial Testing for IP Transition.”

In our analysis, we noted that AT&T’s Proposal for Wire Center Trials, which was filed in response to the FCC’s approval of the company’s Petition to Launch a Proceeding Concerning the TDM-to-IP Transition, is an adequate starting point for a proof of concept, but as a trial it is insufficient in its scope, fails to establish test thresholds, and lacks the transparency necessary for adequate peer review and the application of the testing regime to future transitions.

We identified shortcomings in AT&T’s proposal and outlined specific steps to ameliorate those shortcomings. Our focus is to establish an appropriately stringent testing program, to ensure that the results are replicable, and to ensure that the test results are transparent and publicly available as befits a trial.

More details on the filings are available here: http://www.publicknowledge.org/news-blog/blogs/public-knowledge-calls-for-more-data-and-consumer-protections-in-phone-netw