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Next B4DE Event: Reflect, Recharge, and Reach Forward
ILSR's Community Broadband Networks Initiative and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance invite you to wear your ugly sweater and dive into what a post-Biden administration broadband world may look like. The final B4DE of the 2024 of the year features two prominent figures in this space: NDIA Executive Director Angela Siefer and New Street Policy Advisor Blair Levin.
Boulder Strikes $9 Million Broadband Deal With ALLO
The Boulder, Colorado city council has voted unanimously in favor of striking a $9 million deal with Nebraska based ALLO Communications that should ultimately provide fast fiber access to most of the city’s 330,000 residents. As per the deal, ALLO will provide broadband service to 80 percent of the city by 2028 and 97 percent of the city by 2030.
‘Innovation’ Think Tank Pushes Lazy Smear Of Community Broadband
New “study” maligning municipal broadband doesn’t come as much of a surprise despite its sweeping and patently false claims about the entire sector.
New York Announces Another $140 Million in Municipal Broadband Grants
New York’s Municipal Infrastructure Program (MIP) continues to provide grant funds to build municipal broadband networks across the state, as state broadband officials recently announced the program’s largest round of funding to date. Earlier this month, $140 million in grant awards were announced for six projects from the Finger Lakes to North Country Region.
Open Access ErieNet Fiber Network Gets Underway In Western New York
Erie County, New York’s ErieNet broadband initiative is poised to begin construction in Buffalo, NY, after the Buffalo Common Council recently passed a resolution approving the Telecommunications License Agreement with ErieNet LDC. The approval is a major step toward bringing affordable next-gen broadband access to long-neglected parts of Western New York.
Bell Canada’s Ziply Acquisition Raises Questions About Open Access In The Pacific Northwest
Bell Canada’s history of anti-competitive behavior could herald a culture shift at the ascending provider with Ziply and Bell Canada’s rapid-fire acquisition of smaller providers across the Pacific Northwest.
Fort Dodge Iowa Boosts Funding For Popular Municipal Fiber Network
The city council voted to provide a $3.1 million loan from the city’s sewer fund to complete the build-out of Fort Dodge Fiber. In 2021, the city borrowed $33.3 million to pay for building the fiber optic utility with a loan to be paid off with revenue generated by Fort Dodge Fiber as the project expanded. But thanks to inflation and increasing labor and material costs, that $33.3 million isn’t going to be enough to finish the project.
New Resource Alert: ILSR Unveils Community Networks Predictive Map
In September we released our updated map pinpointing the location of the 400 municipally owned Internet service providers now serving almost 800 communities across the United States. Today, we unveil our predictive map that provides a multi-layered look into the near future of community broadband networks.
Consumer Groups Upset About a Chairman Brendan Carr
Consumer advocacy groups that frequently appear before the Federal Communications Commission are not happy with President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the agency. Brendan Carr, the agency’s senior Republican who’s now set to take the reins in January, wrote the Project 2025 chapter on the FCC.
Northampton, MA Welcomes Gateway Fiber, Hasn’t Ruled Out Municipal Network
Though Northampton, Massachusetts residents still broadly support the construction of a city-owned municipal fiber broadband network, city officials are celebrating the arrival of Gateway Fiber which will soon be delivering a more affordable fiber option, and more broadband competition, to the traditionally underserved city. Gateway Fiber recently unveiled plans to deliver multi-gigabit speeds to large swaths of the city. The company, which will finance the entirety of the build, says it’s already invested $3 million in the project so far.
LUS Fiber Brings Popular Broadband Service Into Church Point, Louisiana
Louisiana’s only publicly-owned broadband provider says it’s expanding access into nearby Church Point, bringing affordable fiber access to the town of nearly 4,200 residents. LUS Fiber was awarded a $21 million grant to expand fiber outside of Lafayette as part of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP).
California Announces Another $207 Million In Last Mile Broadband Grants
California’s $2 billion Last Mile Federal Funding Account Grant Program (FFA) has announced another $207 million in new broadband grants across Amador, Los Angeles, and Solano Counties. According to the state’s announcement, $61 million in new grants were awarded by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for five Last Mile FFA broadband infrastructure grant projects in Amador and Solano Counties, bringing affordable fiber Internet access to approximately 10,000 Californians.