CTC Technology & Energy CEO and Director of Engineering Andrew Afflerbach will address the technical feasibility of mobile net neutrality at an upcoming Congressional briefing that follows a proposal by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to impose strong net neutrality rules on wireless carriers. Senator Al Franken will lead the briefing. The other panelists include Michael Scurato, policy counsel for National Hispanic Media Coalition; Michael Calabrese, Director of the Wireless Future Project at New America’s Open Technology Institute; and Sarah Morris who will act as  the panel moderator and is senior policy counsel for New America’s Open Technology Institute.

The event will be held from 3 to 4:15 pm on Thursday, February 12, 2015 in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building at 2 Constitution Avenue Northeast, Washington, DC.

Click here to RSVP to the event invitation.

CTC was selected by the City of San Francisco to develop a detailed “Dig Once” specification that will enable the City to maximize opportunities to deploy fiber and conduit during construction projects. As a contractor to San Francisco vendor, 21 Tech, CTC engineers will develop a Dig Once model to ensure that both public and private parties are able to efficiently deploy communications infrastructure while trenches and pathways are open.

On February 2, the Palo Alto City Council approved the award to CTC Technology & Energy of two contracts, one to study fiber-to-the-premises alternatives for the City, the other to study wireless solutions. CTC staff will work with a team representing City departments and Palo Alto Utilities to evaluate the full range of communications strategies the City could undertake itself—or enable, working with private partners.

The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) named Arlington County, VA one of its “Top 7 Intelligent Communities” for the third time. The Top 7 Intelligent Communities of 2015 includes three U.S. communities whose innovation and future planning set them apart. The ConnectArlington initiative enables private providers to provide high-speed broadband Internet to attract businesses to the region. It will also license dedicated, secure fiber routes to local businesses and public and governmental institutions. CTC congratulates Arlington County for this well-deserved honor. We are proud to be part of the ConnectArlington team.

In a report released on January 14, the White House cites the CTC and Open Technology Institute (OTI) report The Art of the Possible. The Community-Based Broadband Solutions report applauds local governments who seek ways to bring broadband to their communities and opposes legislation that creates barriers to local broadband initiatives.

In its adoption of the second E-Rate Modernization Order, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) cited the cost model CTC developed for the Schools, Health, and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition. The citation is part of projecting future connectivity needs by looking at both recurring and one-time costs to bring high-speed connectivity to unserved or underserved school and library locations. It is important to have realistic projections of the numerous, varying costs associated with the Commission’s goal of broadband deployment to all schools and libraries nationwide to help drive federal funding.

CTC’s SHLB cost model estimates the average one-time cost of connecting schools and libraries throughout the U.S. It divides the country into eight standardized geographies from an engineering and network construction standpoint, then uses reasonable assumptions and normalizes numbers to estimate the non-recurring average cost to build to eligible schools and library locations.

The FCC adopted the first E-Rate Modernization Order in July, 2014 to streamline the program and increase funding to advance broadband access and affordability for the nation’s schools and libraries. In October, SHLB submitted CTC’s report to the FCC for consideration in the E-Rate Modernization proceeding.

View the CTC cost model here and read the entire FCC order here.

The USDA just opened an application window for its Community Connect grants—a small but great program that “serves rural communities where broadband service is least likely to be available, but where it can make a tremendous difference in the quality of life for citizens.”

Community Connect awards up to $3 million can be given to both public and private entities; eligible applicants include local governments, Native American tribes, and community nonprofits. The program focuses on targeted deployment to completely unserved, very low income areas.

While Community Connect has a fairly broad mission, funding is geographically limited to a single community within a population less than 20,000 that does not currently have broadband (as determined by the FCC National Broadband Map). Grants cannot duplicate any existing broadband services, nor can applicants charge for services to any critical community facilities for at least two years from the grant award. Priority is given to areas that demonstrate “economic necessity.” The grant process is very selective, with awards given to only 10 percent of applicants.

Applications are due February 17, 2015; detailed information is available on the USDA’s website. We would be happy to discuss this opportunity with any public or nonprofit entity that is interested in applying. Please feel free to contact us.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that rural customers who receive fixed broadband service from carriers supported by the Connect America Fund will have connection speeds of at least 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. The Commission increased the program’s speed requirements following direction from Congress that rural consumers’ broadband access should be comparable to urban areas. Beginning in 2015, the Commission will offer $1.8 billion per year to carriers to facilitate this increased connectivity. The Commission also set clear service requirements and consequences for not meeting them. CTC supports this decision and appreciates the FCC’s efforts to bring high-speed connectivity to all Americans.

Read the full news release here.

The City of Seattle awarded CTC a contract to explore the feasibility of implementing a municipal fiber broadband network. CTC business analysts and engineers will provide strategic support to help the City understand the opportunities and risks involved in the potential deployment of fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP). CTC is pleased to continue our long-standing support of the City in its efforts to increase broadband availability.

Public Knowledge filed CTC Technology & Energy’s technical report—The State of the Art and Evolution of Cable Television and Broadband Technology— in the FCC’s Comcast–Time Warner docket. The report, which Public Knowledge commissioned to compare the performance and upgrade paths of cable networks with other technologies, illustrates that DSL and mobile broadband cannot compete with cable because of cable’s ubiquity and inherently greater capacity.

Read the full report here.