I’ve covered a lot of broadband stories lately – The Verge has now published a county-by-county interactive map showing exactly where the problems really are. The data is an anonymized dataset collected by Microsoft through its cloud services network, published in increments by the company over the past 18 months. Thus, you’re getting actual live data feeds.
Meanwhile, net neutrality also reared it’s head – the New York attorney general issued a report confirming that some of the largest US broadband providers ran a massive campaign to flood the FCC with face comments leading up to their 2017 roll back. How many? 18 out of 22 million.
The FCC has approved the final rules to implement the funding for schools and laptops to buy laptops, tablets, hotspots and broadband as part of the American Rescue Plan. This follows the funding for subsidized broadband for some Americans.
Broadband providers are doing themselves no favors here. There’s a reason companies like Comcast are so hated.
This really is an infrastructure investment, and IT services providers should be pleased with this change in perception.