STL Partners has released two reports that dig into the usage and monetization aspects of artificial intelligence (AI) for broadband providers.

The first, entitled “AI in Telecoms Networks: The State of Play in 2026,” featured the results of a global survey that sought to understand adoption of AI in telecom operations and the impact of these capabilities on cost savings and new service launch and revenue.

The key finding was that using AI for operations is the biggest return on investment (ROI) winner for telcos. Twenty-two percent cited cost savings of greater than 10% in this area. Customer experience followed, with 20% citing cost savings greater than 10%.

“At the surface level, this suggests that AI adoption in operations delivers much stronger ROI for telcos,” research director Amy Ameron said in a post about the report. “However, measuring the financial impact of AI in CX/BSS is notoriously difficult, and often materialises as improved customer retention rather than lower absolute costs. It is therefore possible that the ROI in CX/BSS is also under-represented in this sample.”

There still is a lot to learn about the cost impact of AI; the report says that 25% to 30% responded “I don’t know” in each domain.

This lack of certainty, the post said, may mean that ROI cannot yet be measured. This could pose a risk for long-term investment. 

The second report was entitled “How Telcos Generate AI Revenue.” It is based on the findings of STL Partners’ Telco generative AI adoption tracker, which provides a detailed list of telco activities related to AI. 

Infrastructure, platforms, applications and other enterprise solutions dominate telco initiatives, because there is a “clear short-term” expectation of monetization in those areas. 

While the STL Partners reports represent AI efforts by telecommunications companies around the globe, Telecompetitor recently completed its 2026 Rural Broadband State of AI Study, focusing on how rural providers in the U.S. are using AI. Registration for the webinar is now open.

In February, NVIDIA released a report that found network automation is the top use case for AI and that ROI will be driven by the integration of generative and agentic AI.

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Communication Union District’s Maple Broadband’s newest offering — Nonprofit Connect — provides any 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in Maple Broadband’s service area in Addison County with discounted access to gigabit fiber broadband. The service was announced in a Vermont Community Broadband Board press release congratulating the provider on their new service.

The 1 Gbps service is being offered to the 700 qualified nonprofits in the county for $69.95 per month, $50 per month less than other organizations pay for it. 

Through the end of September, Maple Broadband is also waiving its standard installation fee of $149.95 for all new customers, including nonprofits. The service has no contracts and no data caps, without promotional pricing that increases later.

Maple Broadband also provides residential affordability programs:

• The Local Equitable Access Fund (LEAF) provides a $30 monthly discount and free installation to eligible households
• The Affordable Drop Program (ADP) covers additional installation costs for hard-to-reach properties.

“Nonprofits work hard to stretch every dollar for this community,” Maple Broadband Executive Director Ellie de Villiers said in a prepared statement. “This is our way of supporting that. As a community-owned internet provider, there is strong mission alignment between the work we are doing to provide and promote universal affordable broadband and the work of nonprofits that are also serving Addison County.”

Maple Broadband was among the Vermont entities that received Capital Projects Funding funds in 2024.

“Thank you to Maple Broadband for this program that will expand access to high-speed internet to organizations serving Vermonters. Ensuring that nonprofits can afford this service will allow them to serve even more people, opening opportunities for additional folks to benefit from these nonprofits’ hard work and the positive social impact broadband can bring,” said VCBB Executive Director Christine Hallquist.

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People are becoming more aggressive in their opinion of when and how they should be compensated for mobile and internet outages, according to a new survey from Reviews.org.

In their recent survey, they found that 54% of respondents feel that outage credits should be automatic. 

Trevor Wheelwright, who wrote the post describing the research, pointed to a $20 credit Verizon offered in January. There was a lot of responsibility put on customers for something that was not their fault. 

“[A]s Fast Company reported, Verizon customers had to redeem this credit rather than have it applied automatically,” Wheelwright wrote. “That means customers had to be aware of the refund credit in the first place, then use the myVerizon app to apply the credit to their account. All of which puts the burden on the customer to ensure the bill is fair.”

Twenty-eight percent of customers want outage credits to begin after one hour and 26% after three hours. Seventy-one percent of survey respondents say that outages lasting one hour or more should qualify for the credits. Overall, 69% of customers feel that people deserve compensation in some form when their internet or wireless goes down.

How people perceive customer service and how they are treated by their service provider always has been a big issue. It’s likely to continue growing as competition increases and people have more options. 

The outages survey included the views of 1,000 Americans. It was conducted on February 22, 2026.

Service providers are paying attention. For instance, in January 2025, AT&T announced AT&T Guarantee, which offered a service guarantee across its wireless and fiber networks, including automatic credits when an outage happens. The offer was aimed at the carrier’s consumer and small business customers.

Last November, Telecompetitor looked at the shift from a sole focus on feeds, speeds, and prices to a more nuanced approach which includes efforts to keep customers satisfied.

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The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced yesterday that it has launched spectrum.gov, a website aimed at centralizing and consolidating its resources for federal spectrum managers, policymakers, industry interest, and the public into a single website.

“NTIA is launching spectrum.gov as a centralized hub for updates on federal spectrum policy and 6G pipeline progress, as well as our efforts to unleash the space economy and ensure the U.S. leads the world at WRC-27,” Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth said in a press release. “By providing greater visibility into our work, we’re raising the bar for delivering results.”  

The new website will include updates on identifying federal spectrum for allocation under the Working Families Tax Cut and the administration’s “Winning the 6G Race” memorandum. It also will cover developments related to the modernization of federal spectrum management and efforts to accelerate next-generation wireless innovation, according to the press release. 

Spectrum.gov was the second spectrum-related initiative the NTIA established during the past few weeks. Early last month, the NTIA created the Space Launch Frequency Coordination Portal to streamline federal reviews of spectrum requests by commercial satellite providers. 

Spectrum.gov will be busy because spectrum issues are hot. Late in April, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously adopted a Report and Order to improve coordination between NGSO and geostationary orbital (GSO) operators to bring things up to date. 

In its February meeting, the FCC opened up the full 10 MHz available in the 900 MHz spectrum band (896–901 and 935–940 MHz) for licensed broadband services. The goal is to replace narrowband wireless applications for electric and other utilities and convert them to broadband networks for advanced communications applications.

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“Wireless & AI: Driving the Future of Innovation,” a new report from the CTIA, makes the case that a unified national strategy is necessary to promote the growth of the technologies, which it calls the two largest sources of infrastructure investment in the American economy.

The report says that within the next two years, 75% of smartphones will be powered by AI. The convergence of AI and wireless is enabling performance of tasks in the real world. Robotics, drones, and intelligent machines using both technologies will have a presence with their human coworkers in places such as factories and hospitals, and in public safety scenarios.

Time is of the essence. The press release said that the U.S. had its biggest jump ever in wireless traffic in 2025 and that AI will account for 30% of all broadband traffic by 2034. 

The good news, CTIA said, is that progress is being made. For instance, wireless networks have seen a 30% improvement in efficiency. Additional gains will be made by the advent of AI-native 6G networks.

The CTIA believes that a unified national strategy for AI and wireless would be important to fulfilling goals such as: 

• Expediting the 800-megahertz spectrum pipeline established by Congress, including the Federal Communications Commission’s 2027 C-Band auction and progress on 2.7 GHz to address near-term demand.
• Prioritizing the 4 GHz and 6/7 GHz bands for licensed use. This will provide the large and contiguous spectrum blocks 6G requires.
• Replacing today’s state-by-state patchwork of permitting rules with nationwide standards to streamline AI and wireless infrastructure deployment.
• Pairing infrastructure policy with investment-friendly tax policy.

“AI and wireless are converging, and physical AI — where AI doesn’t just answer questions but takes action in the real world — is where everything changes,” CTIA president and CEO Ajit Pai said in the press release.

“To lead this next era, America needs larger, contiguous blocks of mid-band spectrum, more infrastructure, and a unified national approach. The countries that understand this convergence and act on it will lead the next generation of innovation.”

Though 6G may sound like it’s far in the future, it’s not. In March, representatives of The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) met with wireless and computer networking experts to gain a better understanding of how technology developers will apply AI to 6G wireless networks that now are under development.

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SpaceX’s Starlink low Earth orbit (LEO) service provided median download speeds of 100 Mbps or higher in all states except Alaska during the second half of 2025, according to a recent Ookla Speedtest report. 

The Speedtest data also found median upload speeds of 20 Mbps or more in 22 states during the period. None were able to offer that speed during the second half of 2024, according to the report, which was written by Ookla editorial director Sue Marek, a sign that Starlink’s upload speeds are improving.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) deems 100 Mbps and 20 Mbps to be the minimum download and upload speeds for broadband, respectively.

The Speedtest report found that 44.7% of Starlink users during the fourth quarter of last year had broadband service in both directions. That’s a 17.4% increase over the percentage with access to full broadband in the first quarter of 2025.

The Speedtest report found an improvement in multi-server latency in 47 states in the second half of 2025, with only Hawaii, New Mexico, and Oregon not seeing faster times. Ten states had multi-server latency of less than 40 milliseconds during the quarter. Only New Jersey was under the 40 ms mark in the second half of 2024.

Ookla noted that Starlink improved its position against competitors Hughesnet and Viasat. The report found that Starlink’s median download speed is 60% and 65% faster than Hughesnet’s and Viasat’s, respectively. Starlink’s median upload speed is 80% higher than Hughesnet’s and 95% higher than Viasat’s, according to Ookla.

The post seemed more bullish on Starlink’s performance than one released in February, which showed that Starlink’s median upload speed in the United States was 16.91 Mbps in the second half of 2025.

Telecompetitor asked Ookla about whether the two reports used the same data.

“Both reports are using Ookla Speedtest data,” a spokesperson said. “However, this recent report delves into U.S. state performance and compares 1H 2025 and 2H 2025, which is different from the February report which looked more at performance across different countries.”

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Clearwater, FL — May 1, 2026 — IQ Fiber, a Jacksonville, Florida-based provider of 100% fiber-optic internet service, today launched service in Pinellas County bringing 100% fiber-optic internet, transparent pricing, no contracts, and exceptional customer service to residents and businesses across St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and Largo. Home to nearly one million residents and the seventh most populous county in Florida, Pinellas County is a key milestone in IQ Fiber’s customer-first growth strategy, now spanning five states across the Eastern U.S.

“Customers have suffered from a lack of choice and aging networks for too long,” said Ted Schremp, CEO of IQ Fiber. “Our approach is simple: build a modern 100% fiber-optic network with a streamlined customer experience. From transparent pricing to 5-star customer support, our goal is to deliver fast, reliable internet without the hassles customers have come to expect from traditional providers.”

The Pinellas County launch marks the beginning of a more than $100 million investment by IQ Fiber in the region. The network deployment is expected to continue for the next 18-24 months and create more than 50 permanent jobs across St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and Largo.

“High-speed internet access is essential to Clearwater’s growth and quality of life,” said Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector. “We’re pleased to welcome IQ Fiber to our community and look forward to the benefits that greater connectivity brings to our residents and businesses.”

“Reliable, high-speed internet is no longer a luxury — it’s essential infrastructure, and Largo residents deserve real options,” said Largo Mayor Woody Brown. “IQ Fiber’s investment in our community is exactly the kind of private sector commitment that creates jobs, strengthens our local economy, and improves quality of life for everyone who calls Largo home.”

IQ Fiber’s all-fiber network is built on a modern XGS-PON platform capable of delivering symmetrical speeds up to 10 gigabits per second directly into each home or business. Plans start at $65 per month and include professional installation, whole-home WiFi 7 service, and 24/7 live support from the company’s Florida-based team — real people who, on average, answer the phone in 30 seconds or less. IQ Fiber backs every plan with its Stress-Free Guarantee: no contracts, no hidden fees, and no data caps.

To support its long-term presence in the county, IQ Fiber has established a local operations facility at 5767 157th Ave N, Clearwater, FL 33760, which will serve as a hub for sales and technical operations.

To mark the launch, IQ Fiber will host two community events. On Friday, May 1 at 10:00 AM, the company held an official ribbon cutting ceremony at its new Clearwater operations facility at 5767 157th Ave N, where civic leaders, media, and community partners joined the IQ Fiber team and local officials for the official market opening. On Thursday, May 7, IQ Fiber will host a Fiberhood Launch Party from 7:00–9:00 PM at Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex, 2450 Drew St, Clearwater, FL 33765, featuring a community drone show along with food trucks, bounce houses, games, prizes, and live music. All Pinellas County residents are welcome.

IQ Fiber’s network serves customers in Jacksonville, Gainesville and Pinellas County, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; Delaware; and the Chesapeake Bay Region of Maryland.

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April 29, 2026 — Arvig will begin construction this spring on an upgrade project to bring last-mile fiber connectivity to 446 structures in eight Minnesota counties.

Arvig was recently awarded grants totaling $3.4 million from the state’s Broadband Line Extension program after submitting successful lowest-cost bids to serve the locations. Arvig will invest another $442,000 to cover the remaining project costs, bringing the grand total of the project to $3.87 million. Upon completion later this year, 104.3 route miles of new fiber infrastructure will have been constructed.

The locations and number of structures to be served are:

• Becker County: 71 structures
• Clay County: 14 structures
• Kandiyohi County: 37 structures
• Lyon County: 7 structures
• Mower County: 20 structures
• Stearns County: 1 structure
• Todd County: 277 structures
• Yellow Medicine County: 19 structures

The program requires locations to be served with internet speeds of at least 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload. Arvig expects to exceed that requirement, with plans to provide locations access to speeds of up to 1 Gig download and 100Mbps upload.

A location is considered unserved if it lacks access to a wired service with at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speed.

“The Line Extension Connection program has been a great asset to our efforts to serve rural Minnesota,” said David Arvig, Vice President and COO at Arvig. “It not only offsets the normally higher costs that come with serving these harder-to-reach areas, but it provides a path to the modern internet speeds that we all need.”

The Line Extension Connection program, administered by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), was created to bridge the gap in connecting homes and businesses just out of reach of existing last-mile infrastructure.

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BISMARCK, N.D. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Gateway Fiber announced today that construction is officially underway on its new 100% fiber internet network in Bismarck, bringing residents and businesses access to fast, reliable connectivity designed to meet today’s growing online demands. This expansion builds on the company’s existing footprint in Fargo.

Construction crews have begun work in select areas and will expand neighborhood by neighborhood, with the goal of bringing fiber-to-the-home internet service to more locations across the community over the coming months. Customers in these areas should expect service later this summer.

“Launching construction in Bismarck is an exciting milestone for Gateway Fiber and for the families and businesses who deserve a better internet experience,” said John Meyer, Chief Customer Officer at Gateway Fiber. “Our 100% fiber network is built for the long term—delivering multi-gig speeds, reliability, and the capacity customers need today and for years to come. We’re proud to invest in Bismarck and look forward to earning the community’s trust one connection at a time.”

Bismarck Mayor Michael Schmitz welcomed the investment and the benefits fiber infrastructure can provide to the region’s future.

“Reliable, high-speed internet is essential infrastructure for a thriving community, supporting education, healthcare, public services, and economic growth,” said Mayor Michael Schmitz of the City of Bismarck. “We appreciate Gateway Fiber’s commitment to building next-generation connectivity in Bismarck and the opportunities this network will bring for residents and local businesses.”

What residents can expect during construction

Gateway Fiber will coordinate closely with city leaders and utility partners to minimize disruption. Residents may see utility marking, directional boring, conduit placement, and restoration work as crews move through neighborhoods. Gateway Fiber will provide advance communication in areas where construction is scheduled, including what to expect and how to contact the team with questions.

Service availability and updates

The company expects to activate its first customers in the second half of 2026. As construction progresses, residents will receive door hangers with details about start dates and where to call with questions. Residents and businesses can visit gatewayfiber.com or call 888-201-4339 to pre-order and join the list for upcoming service at no upfront cost.

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