Mike Johnson

We delivered another solid quarter of financial and operational results, thanks to the builders of Gigabit America. Here are a few highlights: 🎯 We passed a record number of homes and businesses with fiber. 👋 We grew fiber broadband customers by double digits – proving that we have the very best product in the market. 🌐 We grew ARPU because our customers are increasingly choosing Gig speeds and value-added services – like YouTube TV and whole-home WiFi – to enhance their internet experience. 💗 We continued to lead the industry in customer satisfaction. Our NPS scores are the highest of any fixed internet provider and 6X higher than our nearest legacy cable competitor. 📈 We hit our second quarter in a row of revenue growth, which positions us to deliver full-year revenue growth in 2024. I'm proud of what we've achieved and confident in the power of our fiber technology to transform lives, communities and the way we connect. Read our full earnings results. https://lnkd.in/gfSftzNy #BuildingGigabitAmerica Frontier Internet

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$527/month for 1 analog line That is the highest I have seen YET When was the last time you check your analog line pricing? As of August 2023, your analog lines are unregulated Which in short means = THE PRICE IS GOING UP Get with me to find out what other options you have

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80 Billion $$$ in telecom tech debt is one matter Congress has to fix The other is the forgotten workforce - telecom is surfacing … Federal Agencies, especially the DoD’s Installations, mission risk is huge! Inherently Government activities, associated to Installation telecom, cannot be outsourced, nor associated to Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) as a warfighting mission essential task…. nor can the Fed Civ General Schedule / Wage Grade compete with industry salary rates ….. Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) elimination, Next Generation 911… AI… 5G …nope now 6G cellular are so dependent on so few

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Another one of the hidden assets in broadband networks. This is truly transformational!

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VIAVI Solutions helps service providers and utility companies bridge the digital divide with carrier-grade installation, deployment and maintenance solutions for rural broadband networks. Why is Broadband important in Rural Areas？ What Happens if You Don't Test Rural Broadband？ Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/e6h-MvCq #rural #digital #divide #broadband

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I'll be attending Fiber Broadband Association #FiberConnect24 #FB24 in Nashville between 28-30th July. If anyone would like to meet, or if you're a vendor or CSP running analyst briefings, please let me know. I'm principally interested in: - Trends in US fiber business models, especially #openaccess and wholesale - Integration of #FTTP and #FWA - Disaggregated FTTP infrastructure, eg whitebox OLTs, OpenBNG etc - #WiFi for CSPs, especially #WiFi7 and support of IoT / Matter etc - Broadband olicy eg BEAD, impact of Chevron, link to spectrum for FWA etc - Overall views on fixed broadband industry structure & competition - Read-across from US FTTP market to/from international market Drop me a line and we can try to schedule something, although FYI I'm intending to be in quite a lot of the conference breakout sessions. UPDATE: sadly I will not be at FC24 after all, because of a family issue that means I need to stay in London

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I love to read articles written by "experts" that have no clue what they are talking about. Take the latest article from Ars Technica on pending Broadband price regulation from the Feds. He paints the picture that all companies that are against setting an arbitrary (low) price for Broadband if they get Federal grants are just greedy. However, he is missing a few key facts. The grants only cover part of the cost of the initial capital construction, not the ongoing operations costs. The low densities of most rural areas in the US won't support expensive Broadband buildouts without support; thus the need for the grants. The majority of residents in Rural America qualify as being in the poverty zone for low priced Broadband if the recent ACP rules are used. Finally, the BEAD requirements require most companies raise their pay scales to a higher "state" level; in some cases unrealistically so, meaning small companies cannot and will not participate. So, requiring the ISP to meet a prescribed low price for Broadband, like $30 a month, is simply forcing those companies to either raise rates somewhere else or go out of business. I believe that, compared to other utilities like water and electricity, Broadband is still a pretty good deal, but Federal price regulation is not good for either the consumer or the ISP in the long term. https://lnkd.in/gZ8W3q5G

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Great article on deployment costs and BEAD. Fiber is always going to be the best option for high speed broadband, unless the price is just too high. Wireless and satellite have their applications where they make sense, especially in an area where fiber deployments will cost upward of $15,000 per passing or higher.

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The Broadband Catalysts team has been hard at work building new ways to evaluate high-cost areas in regards to broadband deployment. Too often we are seeing communities choose to direct funds to densely populated areas and leaving the high-cost areas out of their initial builds. This is problematic for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the lack of a viable business case for a provider to serve just the high-cost areas. We recommend pairing high-cost areas with enough higher density areas in order to build a sustainable business cases to serve everyone. We love wireline service, but wireless internet is also a critical component of an overall connectivity strategy, and if we just fund the areas where the wireline providers can make a business case, we are inherently making it even more difficult to serve to rural and low-density areas. No provider, wireline or wireless, can afford to lose money every month. We've reached the point where the economics of broadband are critical to spending grant funds effectively. We need better tools to identify and evaluate areas that represent comprehensive coverage combined with sustainable business cases, and we are committed to building these solutions.

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We know broadband access is important, but I think people outside the industry sometimes hold the impression that, “So what? Rural people can’t stream Netflix.” This new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is an alarming illustration that the impacts go far beyond not streaming Netflix. Why? “Broadband Internet, recently referred to as a superdeterminant of health, can connect persons to job prospects, opportunities for social connectedness and support, and expanded access to medical services via telehealth.” Having access to broadband is crucial for access to just about EVERYTHING today. That’s easy to be taken for granted if you’re not living without it. #broadband #digitaldivide #sethtalks

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This is about using all of the tools In the toolbox to get broadband to people!

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♥️ THIS!! “Greater levels of fiber, delivered by local service providers, improves economic outcomes for rural communities.” The presence of small broadband service providers is the key. Providers that live, work, employ, shop, and pay taxes in the same areas they serve are the economic multiplier magic that should get max points in a BEAD application. It’s the secret to lengthening the investment dollars vs the disaster of a reverse auction in rural areas.

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Is your community staring down the prospect of a new provider coming to town? Are your permitting and inspection groups prepared? Here’s some good advice to help you get ready for the coming wave of expansion!

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Bridging the digital divide

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A broadcast messaging system is a valuable tool for government agencies to enhance their communication capabilities, strengthen emergency preparedness, and better serve the needs of the community. NetSfere’s field-proven, carrier-grade Broadcast Message Center allows agencies to effortlessly distribute mass alerts to a range of cellular users in targeted areas. Learn more: bit.ly/37iajco #communication #emergencycommunication #governmentagencies #massalerts #messaging #broadcasting

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I’ve written another piece on US #spectrum policy & #mobile bands - and what should be done in preparation for #WRC27 over the next 3 years. This is part of my ongoing focus on global spectrum-sharing policy, as well as my advisory work with SFTF. This time it has been published via Fierce Network. My view is that the US should directly engage with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) process at multiple levels, to push for greater understanding and technological innovation in sharing approaches. In particular the focus of IMT (ie #5G & #6G) spectrum should be on regulators assuming a “sharing-native” future in the 2030s, instead of the historic focus of assigning exclusive licences. This should be reflected in any figure IMT identifications & footnotes. In addition, it should be a core part of the various study groups and working parties’ efforts. There also needs to be far more realism about mobile traffic on the international stage - its flattening growth, the many non-credible forecasts, its localisation to specific areas & the impact of aspects such as FWA and indoor use. A critical aspect is dealing with the proposed IMT study bands for WRC-27, which seem “coincidentally” to be exactly the same as those used within NATO for military communications. At the moment, the US #CBRS band is one of the leading examples of dynamic spectrum sharing in practice. The work by NTIA & NSF is also advancing the technological base, including the role of AI. It should be advocating this work more globally, especially at ITU. But first, the mainstream US mobile industry needs to get onboard. #spectrumpolicy #telecompolicy #technology #regulation

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be aware WD Telecom is a scammer.

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