GOP Unveils $928 Billion Infrastructure Counter-Offer

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers, Washington Bureau Chief UPDATE Senate Republicans on Thursday took the wraps off their $928 billion infrastructure counteroffer to President Joe Biden, as talks progressed to see whether both sides can reach a deal. GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia has led the Republican negotiations. She said she was “optimistic” about infrastructure talks with Biden but still sees a “big gap” between Republican and White House plans, according to CNBC.
 
The plan still includes $65 billion for broadband. Inside Towers reported last week the latest White House offer, whittled from around $3 trillion to $1.7 trillion, also included $65 billion for broadband.
 
Republicans and the White House have moved closer to agreement on an infrastructure plan but still need to resolve fundamental issues about the scope of a package and how to pay for it, Capito said Thursday. She said the sides are “inching closer” in negotiations ahead of Memorial Day. That’s the date by which the White House wanted to see progress in bipartisan talks. Continue Reading

China Thinks Deep With Data Centers Under The Sea

 China is experimenting with constructing an undersea data center, attempting to cut cooling costs significantly. According to Reuters, the design has been finalized and a location selected off the coast of Hainan province. 

The project is a collaboration between the local Hainan government, maritime tech company Highlander, and ISP Beijing Sinnet. The underwater data center will be much smaller than those on land, housing 100 data cabinets with approximately 4,200 servers, compared to the usual 50,000 - 80,000 servers. It is unclear how the project is being funded, reported Reuters. Continue Reading

Race For Infrastructure Stalls Before Memorial Day

 Lawmakers are heading toward the congressional Memorial Day break with little sign of progress in negotiations over a massive infrastructure package. The White House offered a counterproposal on Friday, but Republicans quickly rejected the offer. Shelley Moore Capito, the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the two sides “seem further apart after two meetings with White House staff than they were after one meeting” with President Joe Biden.  

The $1.7 trillion White House proposal reduced spending to the levels suggested by Republicans. Broadband funding was cut to $65 billion from the original $100 billion, matching the GOP offer, Inside Towers reported yesterday. “We believe we can still achieve universal access to affordable high-speed internet at your lower funding level, though it will take longer,” the White House said in a memo. Continue Reading

FCC Fines Air-Tel and IOU Acquisitions for Spectrum Misuse

 By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief The FCC voted Thursday to fine Air-Tel, LLC and IOU Acquisitions, Inc. a total of more than half a million dollars for providing wireless broadband-based GPS vehicle tracking services they were not licensed for.  

Air-Tel and IOU hold authorizations to provide Radiolocation Services in the 3300-3650 MHz band. These services are generally radar-based and rely on the propagation properties of these frequencies to determine the position of an object for non-navigation purposes. Instead, the Commission said, the companies offered different wireless broadband-based GPS services that rely on satellite communications and wireless broadband, not radiolocation.

“It does not get much air-time, but one of the most important parts of this agency’s work on spectrum policy is enforcement,” said FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel during the vote. “The most dynamic, innovative and data-driven spectrum policy does not amount to much if [licensees] do not comply with our rules.” Continue Reading

Frontier Communications Back in the Hot Seat Again

 UPDATE Already facing challenges from numerous states that claim Frontier has failed to deliver on its connectivity promises, the company is now being sued by the Federal Trade Commission, according to ET Telecom. Plaintiffs include Arizona, California, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
 
A spokesperson for Frontier said that the suit is "without merit.” Frontier has faced similar claims that it both misrepresented its internet speeds and fell short of service delivery expectations. Settlements were reached with Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and West Virginia, though Frontier has denied that it did anything wrong, according to the account.
 
So far, states confronting Frontier have been awarded millions of dollars in settlements. The latest legal challenge accuses Frontier of underperforming, particularly on its DSL network, which customers say does not come close to providing the speed and service they were led to expect.

NTIA Offers Millions in Broadband Infrastructure Grants

 The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on Wednesday made available nearly $300 million in grant funding for the deployment of broadband infrastructure. Grants will be awarded to partnerships between a state, or political subdivisions of a state, and providers of fixed broadband service.

NTIA’s Broadband Infrastructure Program was established by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which defined the priority order.  

NTIA will accept applications for projects that are designed to: Continue Reading

Administration Sees Jobs Plan as Cybersecurity Outlay

 The White House this week is promoting the concept of universal broadband that’s part of the American Jobs Plan infrastructure package as a large investment in cybersecurity.

The White House issued a fact sheet Tuesday to help President Joe Biden round up support on Capitol Hill and consumers for the legislative measures. The Job Plan’s $100 billion funding of “affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband” will also be an historic investment in network security when combined with Biden’s executive order on cybersecurity, the White House said, according to Multichannel News.

Grant recipients "will be asked to source from 'trusted vendors,'" while preference for the grants will be given to "open, interoperable architecture," at least "where feasible," the administration says in the document. Tech companies praise the goal of securing digital infrastructure. Continue Reading