Image
Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Top Stories
Connect This! Show
Latest Stories
Otter Creek CUD Nabs $9.9 Million Grant For Affordable Fiber Plan
Otter Creek Communications Union District (CUD) has been awarded a $9.9 million grant by the Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB). It’s just the latest effort by the state to use CUDs to deliver affordable fiber broadband access to the long-neglected rural corners of Vermont.
IN OUR VIEW: Save ACP And Then Some
With the $14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) on track to run out of funds by spring/early summer 2024, finally there is a request from the White House to extend funding for the program that over 21 million households now rely on to help pay for high-speed Internet service. While digital equity advocates rightly celebrate the White House request for additional funding as a national effort is underway to boost ACP enrollment, leading digital inclusion organizations – such as the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) – have also been advocating for a more permanent funding solution, possibly through reform of the Universal Services Fund.
Butler Electric Cooperative Bringing Fixed Wireless And Fiber To Rural Kansas
Butler Electric Cooperative and its Velocity broadband subsidiary say they’re making meaningful progress in bringing fixed wireless access (FWA) — and ultimately fiber optic broadband — to long-neglected sections of rural south-central Kansas. It’s the latest example of electrical cooperatives playing a leading role in the longstanding quest to bridge the digital divide.
Memphis Launches $700 Million Plan To Expand Fiber Access
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has introduced an ambitious new plan to incentivize private telecom providers to deliver affordable fiber to 85 percent of the Tennessee city of 633,000. The project, part of the city’s Memphis 3.0 master plan, will spend more than $700 million to expand broadband in a city where less than a quarter of residents–most of them wealthy–have access to next-generation fiber.
Scranton, PA Issues RFQ For Citywide Gigabit Fiber Network
The city of Scranton, Pennsylvania has issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for vendors that may be tasked with constructing an affordable citywide fiber network. City leaders say the RFQ is the opening chapter in a bid to bring affordable broadband access to city residents long neglected by dominant regional monopolies.
New Webinar Series: Tribal Business of Broadband Set to Launch
A new webinar series, The Business of Broadband, is set to kick off later this month. The webinars will hone in on how Indigenous networks approach the business of broadband, how they can be structured, how they price their services, and how they can strategically plan for their sustainability.
Syracuse Launches Surge Link Community Broadband Network
Syracuse officials have launched a new wireless community broadband network they hope will help bring affordable broadband access to the city of 145,000. Dubbed Surge Link, the effort is backed by more than $3.5 million in federal funding and aims to deliver free broadband access to the city’s lowest income neighborhoods. Using CBRS technology, Brooke Schneider, the city’s Senior Information Officer, told ILSR that Syracuse zeroed in on CBRS, in part, because “Fixed Wireless Access technology provides a quick time to market.”
U.S. News & World Report Finds Nearly 2 in 5 Internet Subscribers Compromise Personal Expenses to Afford Internet
With the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) poised to run out of funding in early Q2 next year, and no funding source lined up to keep the program alive, a recent U.S. News & World Report survey underscores the significance of the program in the face of rising prices from the nation’s major Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Cleveland's Two-Pronged Attack To Make ‘Worse-Connected City’ Label A Relic Of The Past
Cleveland, Ohio is putting the finishing touches on an ambitious plan to build a citywide open access fiber network–and deliver affordable fixed wireless service–at minimal cost to city residents. The double-edged proposal aims to bring both meaningful broadband competition–and lower rates–to the long neglected city of 1.7 million people. DigitalC will spend 18 months building a fixed wireless broadband network, while SiFi builds citywide fiber network.
Upcoming Tribal Broadband Webinar on Network Sovereignty and Current Opportunities
“Nuts, Bolts, and Cables: Opportunities in Tribal Broadband” is being hosted by the the Center for Indian Country Development in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and the American Indian Policy Institute at Arizona State University. Slated for next week, the webinar will bring together researchers, advocates, network operators, and federal policymakers
Lamoille FiberNet CUD Gets Green Light For Major Vermont Broadband Expansion Plan
Vermont’s nascent Communication Union Districts (CUD) are pioneering creative efforts to deploy affordable broadband to the rural parts of the Green Mountain State. That includes the Lamoille FiberNet CUD, which has greenlit a major new plan to expand affordable access to fiber in the most neglected parts of rural Vermont. Lamoille plans to have Fidium Fiber and Consolidated Communications deploy and manage 630 miles of new fiber connecting more than 4,800 unserved and underserved Lamoille County homes and businesses.
Building for Digital Equity Event Encore
Today’s Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) webinar – "Building Connected Communities: Sustaining the Momentum" – was packed with practical information and inspiration on how local communities are pushing the digital equity movement forward.