‘Tis the season for new smartphones, new phone plans—and unfortunately, a pasture full of bull. While the “deals” are rolling in hot and fast, there are important differences in which carrier you choose that can impact your monthly bill.

While we’re not quite finished with the overall project, the C Spire Rural Broadband Consortium has been busy in the second half of 2020. Accomplishments include a Business Model White Paper, three completed case studies and a new article on the need for gigabit speeds. Here’s a closer look:

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, experts are anticipating a new 2020 snafu this holiday season: Shipageddon. The country’s reliance on online shopping during COVID-19 will result in a cataclysmic gift-shipping emergency. This may be the year you need to try alternative gifts. 

Sometimes it takes a crisis to expose cracks that are normally hidden from view—or perhaps cracks that are more convenient to ignore.

Wireless carriers aren’t known for making their plans easy on consumers.

So, when their plans and deals seem too complicated, take it as a sign. What may look like a good deal at first can turn out to be a lot pricier than you expected, once you add the additional lines you have to buy, line-access fees and other schemes.

The C Spire Rural Broadband Consortium has been busy. From adding a new partner to the team, to completing TV White Space testing, we’ve made progress that you will want to know about. Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to over the last few months: