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Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.
This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Ellen Velickovska, Co-Founder & Managing Director at telXira
An increasing number of enterprises are using Short Messaging Services (SMS) and Over-The-Top (OTT) messaging apps for customer communications. Application-to-Person (A2P) messaging is predicted to grow from $66.84 billion in 2022 to $96.73 billion by 2030 according to Research and Markets. … [visit site to read more]
This week, the ITIF is calling on the US government to consider cancelling several ‘redundant’ broadband programmes to instead use their funding to support the ACP.
The report suggests that the ACP should “become the premier federal broadband program” due to its flexibility and direct support of low-income households but warns that the current funding will soon fall short of the total demand.
The Affordable Connectivity Programme (ACP) is the US government’s “largest-ever broadband affordability effort”, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a long-term $17 billion plan to support eligible low- income households afford access to the internet.
The ACP offers these households discounts of up to $30 per month on their internet service bills, or up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. The project also provides one-time discounts of up to $100 to help disconnected families purchase a laptop, desktop, or tablet.
The funding comes as part of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by the Biden administration in November 2021.
At this year’s Connected America conference in March, the FCC’s Press Secretary, Paloma Perez, gave an update on the recently-awarded ACP funding, saying 17 million homes had been enrolled nationwide.
Since then, this number has increased to almost 20 million, but many millions of eligible households still have not signed up, with the FCC estimating that in total 50 million homes could qualify for discounts across the country.
To make matters worse, according to estimates based on data from apcdashboard.com, the roughly $17 billion appropriated for the programme in 2021 will likely run out during 2024.
The ITIF estimates that the ACP will require between $5 billion and $6 billion a year to remain effective.
But where can the government find this funding?
According to the ITIF, the solution lies in streamlining the highly convoluted broadband subsidy landscape, particularly scrapping programmes that are becoming obsolete as a result of more modern programmes, such as the ACP itself and the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding programme.
The report argues that the FCC’s Lifeline programme, which also provides discounts for low-income families, is outdated and should be scrapped in favour of the ACP. The report further suggests that the FCC’s Universal Service Fund High Cost programme and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect programme can also be cannibalised to fund the ACP, having been made redundant by the more effective (BEAD) programme.
Combined, reallocating the funding from these three programmes should provide roughly $6.43 billion, enough to sustain the ACP.
“Federal broadband programs are dangerously out of balance,” said Joe Kane, director of broadband and spectrum policy at ITIF and author of the report. “Congress has created effective subsidy programs that render older programs duplicative and wasteful. Yet the old programs persist, siphoning funding away from more effective ones and increasing phone bills.”
But while reallocating funding from these older projects could be a fine way to extend the lifetime and impact of the ACP, it is important to remember that funding is not everything. As the report points out, the digital divide in the US not only relates to lack of access to affordable connectivity, but also to digital literacy.
“If its funding is secured and made sustainable, the ACP is the best policy tool available to defray the cost of Internet subscriptions and connected devices,” said the ITIF report. “Once this relatively low-hanging policy fruit has been picked, broadband policy is not finished. Remaining offline groups will require different kinds of help to achieve full digital inclusion.”
Want to learn more about how government funding is transforming the connectivity landscape in the US? Join the digital ecosystem in discussion at this year’s Connected America
Also in the news:
EU and Japan sign deals for subsea cables and semiconductors
Home Office lambasted over Emergency Services Network delays
Ofcom probes VMO2 as customers complain about contract cancellation
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.
New PoPs, new fiber buildouts, new vendor deployments, and some hybrid 5G: … [visit site to read more]
Mobile money growth continues across Africa. Two recent announcements, from IDT Corporation, a global fintech company, and from TerraPay, a leading global payments infrastructure company partnering with operator Safaricom, are the latest example of companies targeting consumers in Africa – and notably the remittance market.
IDT Corporation has announced the expansion of its BOSS Money app into Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The BOSS Money app now enables app users to send, receive, carry, and exchange money in multiple local currencies across Francophone Africa. The app also enables direct receipt of BOSS Money remittances within minutes from friends and family in the US.
IDT says the BOSS Money app aims to redefine the financial transaction landscape for individuals and small businesses in Francophone Africa, offering innovative solutions tailored to the unique needs and aspirations of the local communities.
Meanwhile, TerraPay and Safaricom plan to facilitate instant borderless payments. The partnership, through TerraPay’s group company Mobex (Kenya), a licensed money remittance provider, will enable more than 30 million M-Pesa mobile wallet holders in Kenya to send real-time payments through TerraPay’s interoperable network across all wallets in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Roll-out of the service in India and Nepal is expected in a few months.
Speaking about this new partnership, Ambar Sur, Founder and CEO, TerraPay says: « We believe this breakthrough collaboration with Safaricom will spur a world of new possibilities for mobile financial service operators to directly scale globally and provide customers with a choice to send payments in a secure, transparent and swift manner.”
He adds: “Our partnership with Safaricom will further boost our capabilities in providing an inclusive global financial ecosystem powered by our agile payments infrastructure and empower Safaricom customers with fast and affordable borderless payment options and access to TerraPay’s widespread partner network of more than 7.5 billion bank accounts and more than 2.1 billion mobile wallets. »
Today, Verizon Business has announced the launch of its new eSIM-based IoT platform, dubbed Verizon Global IoT Orchestration.
The platform will enable devices to switch connection seamlessly between Verizon’s carrier partners’ networks using an eSIM profile, allowing them to operate as a native network subscribers within that partner’s footprint.
In this way, IoT devices will be less reliant on roaming agreements to function effectively, with eSIM allowing for more streamlined connectivity and management.
The new platform will incorporate Verizon’s existing IoT management platform, Verizon ThingSpace IoT, which reportedly already manages millions of IoT devices.
Global IoT Orchestration is today launching with two strategic partners in Bell Canada and Norwegian multinational carrier Telenor, allow customers to receive eSIM connectivity in the US, Canada, and various countries in Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions.
Additional partners are expected to be announced by the end of the year, with Verizon suggesting it would ultimately like 30 carriers to sign up to use the platform, covering a targeted 200 countries and regions.
“The move toward global IoT reflects the reality of doing business in the massive IoT era. The number of IoT devices is expanding rapidly and fleets are fanning outward, so our customers need flexible, reliable connectivity that moves across borders,” said Debika Bhattacharya, Chief Product Officer at Verizon Business. “With our partners Bell Canada, Telenor, and more to come, Verizon Global IoT Orchestration will be able to provide that — a globe-spanning footprint with seamless eSIM IoT connectivity.”
Discussing the benefits of this eSIM approach over traditional IoT roaming, Shamik Basu, executive director of IoT and edge product for Verizon Business noted that it allowed devices entering a market to be considered “a local rather than a visitor”. This allows devices to operate without certain limitations that can be imposed on roaming devices, such as latency levels, as well as providing as regulatory compliance.
How is the rise of the IoT creating opportunities for businesses across the US? Join the digital ecosystem in discussion at this year’s Connected America
Also in the news:
EU and Japan sign deals for subsea cables and semiconductors
Home Office lambasted over Emergency Services Network delays
Ofcom probes VMO2 as customers complain about contract cancellation
Four interesting infrastructure items of regional interest to keep up with: … [visit site to read more]
What do you get when you pair an edge data center platform with a cable operator’s depth? Well, we may find out before long as Vapor IO and Comcast are teaming up in two major metro areas to demonstrate the possibilities. … [visit site to read more]
