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Guru
Thanks, AT&T: Tennessee 40th in Broadband Availability, Quality
by Karl Bode
Thursday Jul 21 2016 16:30 EDT
Tennessee is one of many states where local incumbents like AT&T all but own the state legislature, making improving broadband competition in the state an uphill climb. As we've covered ad nauseum over the years, Tennessee is also one of more than twenty states to pass laws hindering or outright prohibiting communities from building their own broadband networks (or even striking public/private partnerships).
The laws are almost always written by incumbent ISPs like AT&T, Comcast and Time Warner Cable looking to protect turf. A little less than a year ago the FCC voted to use its Congressionally-mandated authority to begin stripping away some of these restrictions in the hopes of improving broadband connectivity, since the laws block local municipal broadband builds (like Chattanooga) from expanding.
Tennessee's response? To sue the FCC.
As that lawsuit is being battled over in the courts, Tennessee has taken the step of conducting a new survey of state broadband residents in response to significant state consumer complaints. The results of that study have been released (pdf), and show that 13% of all households in Tennessee (or 834,545 Tennesseans) lack access to any high-speed broadband internet service whatsoever. 54% of Tennessee residents are connected with what the study calls "lower performing" Internet services, including DSL, dial-up, or satellite broadband. The study ranked Tennessee 40th among the 50 states in overall broadband availability and investment.
The study found that to deploy standard broadband service (25 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up) to all Tennessee residents would cost between $1.1 billion and $1.7 billion. But it also found that even when faster speeds were available, consumers were flocking to slower options -- usually because limited competition keeps pricing high and slower speeds is what consumers could afford.
"Existing broadband infrastructure is not fully utilized because 69 percent of businesses had speed tests below 25 mbps download speed (the minimum for broadband service) and 76 percent of households had speed tests below 25 mbps download speed," the 172-page study found.
Some had worried that the study would be used by the state to try and shine up its cozy relationship with AT&T and other incumbents. And while the report does somewhat float over the state's all-too-cozy relationship with AT&T politically, the report is very clear that in Tennessee -- as with everywhere else -- broadband coverage gaps may require some form of public/private cooperation between governments and industry, because a lack of competition means no incentive to move beyond the status quo.
AT&T, as you might expect, didn't much like that recommendation, given more competition means less revenue. This is, in traditional AT&T fashion, disguised as altruistic concern for American taxpayers.
"It largely ignores private sector investment and focuses heavily on proposals that grow government with little reference to the associated costs and risks to taxpayers," AT&T complained in a statement to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Municipal broadband is like any business model, and there are both good and bad plans. Either way, these communities wouldn't be getting into the broadband business if they were happy with AT&T services -- something AT&T would surely prefer you not spend too much time thinking about.
"Having access to broadband services is quickly becoming the most important differentiating infrastructure of our time," the 172-page study concludes. "Education, healthcare, business operations and innovation, workforce training and e-government applications all rely upon advanced broadband networks."
by Karl Bode
Thursday Jul 21 2016 16:30 EDT
Tennessee is one of many states where local incumbents like AT&T all but own the state legislature, making improving broadband competition in the state an uphill climb. As we've covered ad nauseum over the years, Tennessee is also one of more than twenty states to pass laws hindering or outright prohibiting communities from building their own broadband networks (or even striking public/private partnerships).
The laws are almost always written by incumbent ISPs like AT&T, Comcast and Time Warner Cable looking to protect turf. A little less than a year ago the FCC voted to use its Congressionally-mandated authority to begin stripping away some of these restrictions in the hopes of improving broadband connectivity, since the laws block local municipal broadband builds (like Chattanooga) from expanding.
Tennessee's response? To sue the FCC.
As that lawsuit is being battled over in the courts, Tennessee has taken the step of conducting a new survey of state broadband residents in response to significant state consumer complaints. The results of that study have been released (pdf), and show that 13% of all households in Tennessee (or 834,545 Tennesseans) lack access to any high-speed broadband internet service whatsoever. 54% of Tennessee residents are connected with what the study calls "lower performing" Internet services, including DSL, dial-up, or satellite broadband. The study ranked Tennessee 40th among the 50 states in overall broadband availability and investment.
The study found that to deploy standard broadband service (25 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up) to all Tennessee residents would cost between $1.1 billion and $1.7 billion. But it also found that even when faster speeds were available, consumers were flocking to slower options -- usually because limited competition keeps pricing high and slower speeds is what consumers could afford.
"Existing broadband infrastructure is not fully utilized because 69 percent of businesses had speed tests below 25 mbps download speed (the minimum for broadband service) and 76 percent of households had speed tests below 25 mbps download speed," the 172-page study found.
Some had worried that the study would be used by the state to try and shine up its cozy relationship with AT&T and other incumbents. And while the report does somewhat float over the state's all-too-cozy relationship with AT&T politically, the report is very clear that in Tennessee -- as with everywhere else -- broadband coverage gaps may require some form of public/private cooperation between governments and industry, because a lack of competition means no incentive to move beyond the status quo.
AT&T, as you might expect, didn't much like that recommendation, given more competition means less revenue. This is, in traditional AT&T fashion, disguised as altruistic concern for American taxpayers.
"It largely ignores private sector investment and focuses heavily on proposals that grow government with little reference to the associated costs and risks to taxpayers," AT&T complained in a statement to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Municipal broadband is like any business model, and there are both good and bad plans. Either way, these communities wouldn't be getting into the broadband business if they were happy with AT&T services -- something AT&T would surely prefer you not spend too much time thinking about.
"Having access to broadband services is quickly becoming the most important differentiating infrastructure of our time," the 172-page study concludes. "Education, healthcare, business operations and innovation, workforce training and e-government applications all rely upon advanced broadband networks."