Americans Highly Satisfied With Broadband Service
Recent polling by Morning Consult shows that Americans are overwhelmingly satisfied with their home internet service and are confident that broadband providers will continue to improve their networks to meet future needs. Consumers also favor targeted solutions to closing the remaining broadband gaps including dedicating government funding first to areas without any broadband service and permanently funding a subsidy to help low-income Americans purchase broadband service.
Cable Operators Begin to Roll Out Emergency Broadband Benefit
This past year has underscored the importance of broadband in the home more than ever before. During the COVID-19 pandemic, broadband connectivity has allowed millions of Americans to work and learn from home, to attend telehealth appointments, to connect with loved ones, and to continue a semblance of their pre-pandemic lives online. In recognition of this necessity and in response to the pandemic, Congress has provided the Federal Communications Commission with $3.2 billion to implement the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program. Beginning today, the EBB gives Americans who meet certain
Setting the Record Straight About Broadband Pricing
Some advocacy groups, like The Open Technology Institute (OTI), are repeating the assertion that prices for broadband service in the U.S. are significantly higher than in Europe and other countries around the world. That is just not true. And misinformation is not helpful to the critical discussion of how to get everyone in America connected. The statements that advocates often make don’t hold up when the cherry-picked data is subjected to closer scrutiny. No amount of repetition or volume changes these false claims. The OTI report has been soundly debunked (more than once) including in a new
HBO's Reboot of 'In Treatment' Tackles Mental Health Stigmas
With Mental Health Awareness Month now underway, the reboot of HBO's "In Treatment," a drama series that shines a spotlight on mental health issues, could not come at a better time. Produced a decade after the season three finale, season four was reimagined with a whole new cast and updated to reflect the mental health challenges of today, including issues that people, particularly people of color, are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. "As we approached reimagining the show, we wanted to make sure that our priorities were to honor the original American version, but also make sure that we
Recognizing the Importance of School Partnerships During Teacher Appreciation Week
When the COVID-19 pandemic sent students home from school, many educators were forced to move their classes entirely online. This shift to distance learning was a significant endeavor, especially as some students did not have internet access at home. In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, NCTA celebrates the educators who rose to meet these new challenges. Teachers have gone to great lengths to continue the learning process online. As distance learning plans evolved, educators and broadband providers across the country collaborated to connect students and families in need. These partnerships
As Upstream Consumption Increases, Cable Networks Are Ready
With millions of people working and learning from home (via the internet) last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, America witnessed its biggest ever surge in internet traffic with spikes of 60% in some markets. Since last March, NCTA has tracked and published data showing how online usage has changed during the pandemic and how cable’s broadband networks have risen to the challenge of these traffic spikes. Not surprisingly, a new study by OpenVault found that upstream traffic consumption hit an all-time record in 2020, increasing by 63% between December 2019 to December 2020. This growth rate
Cable's Future Ready Network Accomplishes Another Tech Milestone on the Road to 10G
In a groundbreaking milestone demonstrating that cable’s broadband network is ready for whatever the future brings, Comcast announced last week that a new technology will enable it to deliver symmetrical upstream and downstream speeds greater than 4 Gbps over its hybrid-fiber coaxial (HFC) network. The result is a significant step forward in the cable industry’s 10G vision, a global initiative to deploy new technology that will dramatically increase both upload and download speeds and capacity over existing networks already available in hundreds of millions of homes. Just over two years ago
A D.C. Resident Shares How the Internet Changed Her Life
Since LaJoy Johnson-Law gained access to the internet in her home last year, life has completely changed for her and her 8-year-old daughter, Abria. A resident of southeast Washington, D.C., Johnson-Law is one of 14 million people who have been connected to broadband internet through the cable industry's broadband adoption programs over the past decade. While Johnson-Law, like many other Americans, was able to make due without the internet for many years by either using the internet at a neighbor's home every once in a while or her phone’s hotspot, everything changed when COVID-19 hit the
More Energy Savings Coming to Pay-TV Equipment
Today is Earth Day, and the timing could not have worked out better to celebrate and recognize a hugely successful energy efficiency program that has already saved consumers $7 billion in energy costs. The program is the award-winning, "Voluntary Agreement for Ongoing Improvement to the Energy Efficiency of Set-Top Boxes," between all of the major cable, satellite and telco multichannel video programming distributors, manufacturers of set-top boxes, and leading energy efficiency advocates the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
Much of America’s Infrastructure is Crumbling; Broadband is the Exception
The topic of improving our national infrastructure is once again front and center in Washington. For years, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has been urging policymakers to reinvest in things like waterways, bridges, energy grids, and roads. In fact, ASCE reports that 43% of America's public roadways are in poor or mediocre condition, more than 230,000 U.S. bridges require repair and preservation work, and there is a water main break every two minutes, causing an estimated six billion gallons of treated water to be lost each day. Another “newer” form of infrastructure is the