2022.07.29 – Open Broadband News

Affordable Connectivity Program sees 1M signups

Vice President Kamala Harris said that one million U.S. households have signed up in the last two months for the Affordable Connectivity Program, a $65 billion portion of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law intended to help consumers cut their household costs for high-speed Internet services.

In an attempt to build on that progress, a White House fact sheet stated that the Biden Administration is calling on governors across the country to participate in an all-in government enrolment drive to further boost sign-ups.

As part of her address in North Carolina, Vice President Harris has committed to emailing five million households to let them know about the Affordable Connectivity Program. Administered by the Federal Communications Commission, the program provides eligible households with up to $30 a month (or $75 a month on Tribal lands) off Internet bills, as well as a one-time $100 discount off a connected device.

Fiber a hit with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries

Fiber has overtaken cable for the first time as the primary fixed broadband technology across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries. Its purpose is to stimulate economic progress and world trade. The latest update of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development broadband portal shows that fiber subscriptions increased by 18.6 percent over the year, jumping ahead of cable, now at 32.4 percent of fixed broadband subscriptions, with DSL at 27 percent and declining.

The biggest growth was in Costa Rica, Israel, Greece, and Belgium which all increased fiber connections by more than 80 percent in 2021. The share of fiber is now at 50 percent or above in 13 OECD countries, standing above 50 percent in Chile, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, and Portugal, and above 70 percent in Iceland, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, and Sweden.

Brazilian regulator starts work on new fixed telephony concessions valid from end-2025

Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) has started working on a public notice for fixed telephony concessions that will replace current contracts expiring in December 2025, reports O Estado de Sao Paulo. Anatel board member Arthur Coimbra said a proposal should be submitted for public consultation by the end of 2022, and the final version of the public notice will be issued by the end of 2023.

According to Coimbra, key guidelines will concern rules and obligations for concession holders, freedom to set tariffs as they see fit, and access to returnable assets, so that concession holders do not need to deploy a network from scratch.

FCC idea for new broadband minimums ‘already obsolete’, says FBA President  

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel recently proposed raising the minimum broadband speed requirement in the U.S. to 100 Mbps for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads.

The move was generally well-received, but long overdue at a time when median download and upload speeds among U.S. service providers still rank below several other nations.

Fiber Broadband Association President and CEO Gary Bolton said, “Our industry has moved beyond the ‘speed test’ and is now focused on the ‘experience test.’ We would encourage the FCC to not set ‘new’ broadband definitions that are already obsolete, but to look toward the future and establish definitions that will support the vision and innovation of the Metaverse and beyond. They can do that with definitions that support symmetric speeds, single digit [millisecond] latency requirements, and enable concurrency.”

China remains APAC’s largest online video market in 2022

Analysis released by Media Partners Asia (MPA) indicates that total Asia Pacific online video industry revenue will grow by 16 percent year-on-year in 2022 to reach $49.2 billion (€48.3bn), according to the Asia Pacific Online Video & Broadband Distribution 2022 report. SVoD will contribute 50 percent; UGC AVoD, 37 percent and Premium AVoD, 13 percent.

MPA executive director, Vivek Couto, commented: “Investors are increasingly focused on enhanced scale, improved monetisation and real profitability across global, local and regional online video platforms. In this context, the role of Asia Pacific continues to have a critical role in the future of the global online video industry. The region remains the largest growth contributor to global online video customers and users today and is emerging as a significant contributor to revenue growth.”

China, APAC’s largest market, will generate $11.2 billion in revenue in 2022, representing 48 percent of the APAC online video revenue pie. Despite regulatory hurdles and market maturity, China will remain APAC’s largest online video market, growing at a CAGR of 5 percent over 2022-27 to top $30 billion or 42 percent of the APAC online video revenue pie, by 2027.