The FCC took a bold step forward in rejecting Elon Musk and SpaceX’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) long form application, denying the company of the $885.5M award announced on December 7, 2020. This is a huge victory for the 640,000 families that had been previously relegated to Low Earth Orbit Satellite service as a result of the 2020 RDOF auction results. Further, as these families that were designated as “Starlink locations”, they were at risk of being redlined from being eligible for fiber broadband from the $42.45B NTIA BEAD broadband infrastructure funding and other federal, state, and local broadband programs. Today’s action by the FCC, rejecting SpaceX’s Starlink from RDOF funding, provides clarity and a path forward for fiber and closing the digital divide, while returning $885.5M of this precious funding back into the RDOF fund for more appropriate broadband projects.

Beanfield, owner and operator of the largest independent fiber-optic network in Toronto and Montreal, today announced the acquisition of Urbanfibre, a leading fiber provider operating in the Greater Vancouver Area. This acquisition is part of Beanfield’s ongoing commitment to expanding its residential and commercial network and service offerings across Canada’s major metropolitan areas and, along with its recent acquisition of FibreStream, carves out a path for a stronger and more resilient communications network on the West Coast.

BAI Communications (BAI) has agreed to acquire ZenFi Networks, an East coast-based provider of digital infrastructure solutions and innovator in small cell deployment, offload & roaming services, fiber connectivity and network edge colocation. This agreement represents a significant growth opportunity for BAI in North America, building upon its existing connected infrastructure capability and operations in the region driven by BAI Group companies Mobilitie and Transit Wireless. It further progresses the company’s vision to become a leading provider of connected 5G infrastructure across North America, and globally. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory clearances and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.

ADTRAN Holdings, Inc. announced the closing of its business combination with ADVA Optical Networking SE The companies received all necessary regulatory approvals and shareholder consent, making closure possible. ADTRAN Holdings is now the parent company of ADTRAN, Inc. (“ADTRAN”) through the merger of ADTRAN with and into a wholly-owned subsidiary of ADTRAN Holdings. Additionally, tendered ADVA shares were exchanged for shares of ADTRAN Holdings today, making ADTRAN Holdings the majority shareholder of ADVA.