Rhode Island’s First Municipal Broadband Network Goes Live on Block Island

By

on May 25, 2023

After decades of frustration, Block Island residents are finally getting access to affordable, next-generation broadband, as BroadbandBI becomes the state's first municipal broadband network.

Quincy, MA Moves Full Speed Ahead On City Owned Open Access Fiber Plan

By

Karl Bode

on May 18, 2023

Quincy, Massachusetts is moving full speed ahead on a long-percolating plan to bring faster and more reliable broadband to a community long neglected by regional telecom monopolies.

NTIA Says State Muni-Bans Won’t Delay BEAD Funding

By

Karl Bode

on May 16, 2023

The NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) insists that the 17 state laws that hamper nationwide community broadband deployments won’t delay a massive looming infusion of infrastructure broadband subsidies. But one industry group isn’t so sure.

After Years of Talk, Cambridge, MA is Now Taking Serious Look at Municipal Broadband

By

Sean Gonsalves

on May 30, 2023

With a new supportive city manager in office, Cambridge city leaders have released a recently published feasibility study that says a financially sustainable citywide fiber network would require “a significant public contribution" of between $150 and $200 million.

Latest Podcast

Filling in Connectivity Gaps with Open Access Fiber - Episode 554 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast

This week on the podcast, Christopher speaks with Keith Quarles, President and CFO of A2D, a fiber-based, open access competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC). Chris and Keith discuss A2D’s business model, which focuses on filling in the gaps – serving communities where connectivity is unaffordable or the incumbent has chosen not to upgrade its infrastructure. Keith explains how many gaps still exist, even after the influx of federal funding for broadband. A2D takes a creative approach to building out fiber backbones in these pockets, which involves connecting existing ecosystems like municipalities, school systems, and electric membership corporations (Georgia’s equivalent of electric cooperatives).

Washington Communities See Millions In New Rural Broadband Grants

By

Karl Bode

on May 23, 2023

The Port Of Whitman County is one of several rural Washington communities set to nab another major infusion of broadband grants courtesy of federal Covid disaster relief.

Register Now For Upcoming Building For Digital Equity Event

By

Sean Gonsalves

on May 18, 2023

Our next Building for Digital Equity event is only weeks away. Have you registered yet? Sponsored by UTOPIA Fiber, the June 7 virtual gathering will feature engaging debates on the hottest topics in broadband.

Colorado Repeal Of Community Broadband Ban A Turning Point Decades In The Making

By

Karl Bode

on May 11, 2023

Colorado state leaders have voted to eliminate long-criticized state barriers to municipal broadband networks. Community broadband advocates hope it will be a beacon for other states eager to bring more reliable and affordable high-speed Internet service to a market long dominated by monopoly providers.

Connect This! Show

Recent Broadband News | Episode 72 of the Connect This! Show

Join us Friday, May 26, at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about all the recent broadband news that's fit to print. They'll chat about Gigapower, Anna Gomez' nomination to the FCC, and more.

Latest Stories

SAVE THE DATE: Building for Digital Equity

By

Sean Gonsalves

on Apr 11, 2023

Save the date and join us June 7 at 3 pm ET for the second Building for Digital Equity event of the year, which comes weeks ahead of when states will receive their BEAD funds from the bipartisan infrastructure bill. As with previous B4DE events, this will be another virtual gathering that will offer up strategies to help simplify the complexities (and opportunities) of broadband connectivity.

South Carolina Grants Fund 56 New State Broadband Projects

By

Karl Bode

on Apr 7, 2023

The South Carolina Broadband Office (SCBBO) has announced 56 newly funded projects through its new broadband grant program. South Carolina historically hasn’t been a hotbed of community broadband deployment, and is one of 17 states that have passed restrictions on municipal network creation, funding, and expansion. Still, there are numerous electric cooperatives in the state busy creatively bridging the digital divide that stand to benefit from an historic infusion of new grant funding.

Boulder, Colorado Gets Ready to Roll on Citywide Fiber Network

By

Sean Gonsalves

on Apr 5, 2023

With the construction of its 65-mile dark fiber backbone nearly complete, city officials in Boulder, Colorado are now ready to move into the next phase of their plan: build out a citywide fiber network. Last week, the city issued a Request for Information (RFI) “to gauge the interest of for-profit and nonprofit entities in forming a public–private partnership (PPP) with the city to make Gigabit per second-class bandwidth available to all Boulder homes and businesses.”

Two New Episodes of the Building for Digital Podcast Now Available

By

Sean Gonsalves

on Apr 3, 2023

This week we are giving you a double dose of our new Building For Digital Equity podcast. Episode 4 features Kim Ilinon and Ella Silvas, two Interactive Media Design students from the University of Washington-Bothell. And in Episode 5 we talk with Susan Corbett, Executive Director of the National Digital Equity Center, about how she went from being the owner of a small ISP in rural Maine to a national digital equity advocate.

Connect Humanity Project Aims To Bring Broadband To Rural Appalachia

By

Karl Bode

on Apr 3, 2023

Connect Humanity and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) have struck a new $7.9 million coalition partnership they say will help deliver affordable, next-generation broadband networks to more than 50 communities across 12 Appalachian states. ARC has already been awarded $6.3 million via its new Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE) program, which aims to solve the connectivity crisis in a region that lags well behind the national average.

Realizing Ambitions of Open Access in Marin County, California

By

Emma Gautier

on Mar 30, 2023

Digital Marin, currently housed within the Marin County Information Services and Technology Department, is coordinating a fiber project and leaning towards a municipally-owned, open-access solution modeled after Ammon’s standout network in Idaho.

Syracuse, NY Votes to Provide Low Cost Fixed Wireless Broadband to Low Income Households

Moses DeWitt House, low income apartment building in Syracuse

By

Karl Bode

on Mar 28, 2023

City officials in Syracuse, New York have formally approved a new project to provide heavily discounted wireless broadband to low-income city residents.

Building for Digital Equity Podcast Episode 3: Mikhail Sundust Offers Digital Equity Lessons from Gila River Indian Community

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Mar 27, 2023

In our third episode on the Building for Digital Equity podcast, we are joined by Mikhail Sundust, Executive Director of the Digital Connect Initiative (DCI) at GRTI - Gila River Telecommunications Incorporated.

Florida Designates $144 Million in ARPA Funds for 58 Broadband Projects

By

Karl Bode

on Mar 23, 2023

Florida’s state broadband office is doling out $144 million in grants to 58 different broadband expansion projects across 41 Florida counties.

New Bill Could Make Colorado Friendly State for Municipal Broadband

By

Sean Gonsalves

on Mar 21, 2023

Earlier this month, a new Colorado bill was introduced that, if passed, would rid the state of a law designed to protect monopoly Internet service providers (ISPs) from competition.

Gina Birch Loves Digital Equity at the Ashbury Center in Cleveland

By

Sean Gonsalves

on Mar 17, 2023

In the second episode of our new Building for Digital Equity podcast, Gina Birch talks about how she trained digital navigators at the Ashbury Senior Computer Community Center in Cleveland to help enroll eligible households into the Affordable Connectivity Program, and why working with trusted messengers and organizations is key

Nationwide Push to Address ACP Anemia

By

Sean Gonsalves

on Mar 15, 2023

The White House, in coordination with the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Commerce Department, has kicked off a major push to get more of the estimated 52 million eligible households across the nation to take advantage of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

Subscribe to

Reports

Increased Wellness and Economic Return of Universal Broadband Infrastructure: A Telehealth Case Study of Ten Southern Rural Counties

By Ry Marcattilio on Apr 26, 2023

In a new report, published in partnership with the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative (SRBWI), the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative examines the link between high-speed Internet infrastructure, access to healthcare, and the economic implications involved. It shows the even small communities that commit to universal, affordable, reliable service can avoid millions in healthcare costs, recouping financing in short order and leading to healthier populations.

The Problem(s) of Broadband in America

By Sean Gonsalves on Jul 7, 2021

In a new policy brief, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance looks to provide clarity for policy-makers by exploring the real challenges of America’s connectivity crisis. The brief aims to clear up a common misunderstanding of exactly where the digital divide is located.

Shopping for Broadband: Failed Federal Policy Creates Murky Marketplace

By Emma Gautier on Nov 11, 2021

A new report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) examines Internet Service Providers’ (ISPs) transparency — or lack thereof — around the Internet service packages they offer. Shopping for Broadband: Failed Federal Policy Creates Murky Marketplace finds that locally-controlled broadband networks are the most transparent around key service details. Large ISPs, on the other hand, are more likely to make information like upload speed and pricing difficult or impossible to find.

Six Community Broadband Networks Demonstrate Diversity of Approaches to Connectivity Challenges

By Sean Gonsalves on Jul 26, 2021

There are more than 600 wireline municipal broadband networks operating across the United States today. And while the ongoing discussion about our information infrastructure by Congress has placed a renewed emphasis on publicly owned endeavors to improving Internet access, the reality is that cities around the country have been successfully demonstrating the wide variety of successful approaches for decades.

Minnesota Broadband: Land of 10,000 Connectivity Solutions

By Ry Marcattilio-McCracken on Jul 29, 2021

In a new report, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance showcases the diverse range of approaches communities and local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have taken to expand affordable, high-quality Internet access in Minnesota. It includes a series of case studies that detail how communities are meeting the connectivity challenges of a broken marketplace shaped by large monopoly service providers.

Building Indigenous Future Zones: Four Tribal Broadband Case Studies

By H. Trostle on Feb 4, 2021

The rate of connectivity in Indian Country lags behind the rest of the country. As of December 2018, only 60% percent of Tribal lands in the lower 48 states had high-speed Internet access. A new case study report</a> from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance delves into the experiences of four Native Nations — the Coeur d’Alene, the Nez Perce, the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe, and the St. Regis Mohawk — as they constructed their own Internet service providers.

Wilson Hits a Fiber-to-the-Home Run with Greenlight Municipal Broadband Network

By Ry Marcattilio-McCracken on Dec 7, 2020

Built in 2008 with an eye toward the future and operated with local priorities in mind, Greenlight has a long track record of putting people first. In a new case study, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance explores the wide-ranging community benefits of Greenlight, the city-owned fiber-to-the-home network in Wilson, North Carolina, over the last 12 years.

Profiles of Monopoly: Big Cable and Telecom

By H. Trostle on Aug 12, 2020

The report explores the extent of monopoly control by the largest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) across the United States, and finds that most Americans have little choice when it comes to broadband where they live. In this version, we updated the maps and other information in the report with the most recent broadband deployment data from the Federal Communications Commission.

Top Stories

Latest Podcast

Connect This! Show

Latest Stories