With major fanfare, CenturyLink announced a couple of weeks ago that it had decided to accept Phase II funding from the Connect America Fund to help pay for building out "high-speed" internet service to rural areas of its service territory. The announcement even showed up on local newscasts here in Iowa as some sort of revelation. A friend of mine saw one of those news reports and asked me, "What does this mean?". I replied, somewhat cynically, "It means that sometime early in the 2020's CenturyLink's rural customers will finally get access to yesterday's definition of broadband."
Cynicism aside, it's true. Around 2022, the most remote CenturyLink customers in Iowa will be able to get internet speeds of 10 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. That's not only less than half of today's FCC definition of broadband (25 Mbps x 3 Mbps), but likely to be seriously lagging behind the average consumer's needs in the future. 10 Mbps will seem as inadequate in 2022 as 1.5 Mbps DSL seems today. Still, some people will be able to get something better than dial-up for the first time ever.
One thought that CenturyLink's decision to accept the statewide commitment brings to my mind: what does that mean for their more urban service territories? Already, many CenturyLink DSL customers cannot get 25x3 (your's truly included) even if they live in cities. To improve speeds in these areas, CenturyLink would need more fiber closer to more customers so that the copper loops are short enough to handle higher DSL speeds. But with the emphasis on rural areas to meet the requirements to receive CAF funding, it makes me wonder if there will be much left over for the rest of the state.
Cynicism aside, it's true. Around 2022, the most remote CenturyLink customers in Iowa will be able to get internet speeds of 10 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. That's not only less than half of today's FCC definition of broadband (25 Mbps x 3 Mbps), but likely to be seriously lagging behind the average consumer's needs in the future. 10 Mbps will seem as inadequate in 2022 as 1.5 Mbps DSL seems today. Still, some people will be able to get something better than dial-up for the first time ever.
One thought that CenturyLink's decision to accept the statewide commitment brings to my mind: what does that mean for their more urban service territories? Already, many CenturyLink DSL customers cannot get 25x3 (your's truly included) even if they live in cities. To improve speeds in these areas, CenturyLink would need more fiber closer to more customers so that the copper loops are short enough to handle higher DSL speeds. But with the emphasis on rural areas to meet the requirements to receive CAF funding, it makes me wonder if there will be much left over for the rest of the state.
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