RantanenTown Ranch Turns Into Broadband Playground For Tribal Broadband Bootcamp 11

By

on Apr 15, 2024

Photo-filled look at the many days of prep and three days of immersive programming that went into creating Tribal Broadband Bootcamp 11 at RantanenTown Ranch.

Caution Ahead: RDOF and BEAD Collision Course

By

Karl Bode

on Apr 8, 2024

The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund has been plagued with problems since its inception, putting both current and future broadband funding opportunities at risk. Altice is the latest to announce it would be defaulting on 18 census block groups in Louisiana.

Affordable Housing Building in Queens NY

Massachusetts and New York Look To Make Affordable Housing Broadband Ready

By

Sean Gonsalves

on Apr 4, 2024

Massachusetts and New York officials hope to entice affordable housing property owners with new grant programs that would pay the retrofitting costs to expand high-speed Internet connectivity into decades-old affordable housing developments.

New Resource Alert: Rising Tide of Municipal Broadband Networks Fact Sheet

By

Sean Gonsalves

on Apr 17, 2024

As the municipal broadband movement continues to gain momentum, here is a new fact sheet that highlights the dramatic surge in the building of publicly-owned, locally controlled high-speed Internet infrastructure. We also unveil a new map of municipal broadband networks across U.S.

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Debunking Municipal Broadband Myths - Episode 596 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast

In this latest episode of the podcast, Chris and Sean explore the arguments against municipal broadband, addressing claims made by opponents and highlighting success stories of community-owned networks. They emphasize the importance of local autonomy in broadband decisions, advocating for solutions that meet each community's needs.

Save The Date: Next B4DE Event Will Focus On Pathways To Affordable Connectivity

By

Jordan Pittman

on Apr 17, 2024

The second Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) event of the year will focus on what digital equity advocates across the nation are doing to address broadband affordability challenges and delve into the need for creating sustainable solutions for communities.

Chicopee Massachusetts Takes ‘Fiberhood’ Approach To City Fiber Rollout

By

Karl Bode

on Apr 12, 2024

The city-owned utility in Chicopee, Massachusetts has adopted the “fiberhood” approach to broadband deployment as it expands affordable access to city residents under the Crossroads Fiber brand.

Building for Digital Equity Podcast Returns

By

Jordan Pittman

on Apr 11, 2024

We are set to launch a brand new season that focuses on the frontline work to expand Internet access, address affordability, and help provide the digital skills and devices necessary to fully participate in a digital world.

Connect This! Show

Middle-Mile Madness | Episode 93 of the Connect This! Show

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program represents a generational investment in new infrastructure, and will no doubt bring new fiber connections to millions of households around the country. Is the current state of middle mile in the United States ready? Join us Friday, April 12th 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 Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and a special guest Doug Maglothin (Diamond State Networks) to tackle the often-neglected pathways that connects our cities and towns back to the core networks that make up the Internet.

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The Power of Connectivity: How Internet Innovators are Closing the Digital Divide

By

Ry Marcattilio

on Jun 7, 2021

Part of the Michelson 20MM Foundation's digital equity focus area has been its Connecting California learning series, which seeks to "strengthen [our] collective understanding of the history and root causes of the 'digital divides' - the economic and educational gaps created by inequitable access to high-sp

Congress’ Community Broadband Act Gains Support From 45 Organizations

By on Jun 4, 2021

Since it was first introduced in Congress in March, the Community Broadband Act of 2021 has gained widespread support from over 45 organizations representing local gover

Waterloo, Iowa Moves Closer to Municipal Broadband

By

Ry Marcattilio

on Jun 4, 2021

Last summer we wrote about the slow but steady progress the city of Waterloo, Iowa (pop. 68,000) has been making towards improving local connectivity options for residents and businesses needing it.

How Equal Access Santa Cruz is Bridging the Digital Divide - Episode 15 of Connect This!

By

Ry Marcattilio

on Jun 3, 2021

On Episode 15 of the Connect This! Show, co-hosts Christopher and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) are joined by two representatives from the Internet Service Provider Cruzio: James Hackett (Director of Business Operations & Development) and Chris Frost (Director of Technology and Infrastructure).

Virginia County Turns Middle-Mile Project into a Countywide FTTH Network

By on Jun 2, 2021

Patience and persistence can be used to describe what made northern Virginia’s Orange County Broadband Authority successful in turning their middle-mile network into a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network.

Lawmakers Urge Treasury to Revise Spending Rules on Coronavirus Relief Funds

By

Sean Gonsalves

on Jun 2, 2021

The day after the U.S.

Join Us Live on Thursday at 5pm ET for Connect This! Episode 15 - How Equal Access Santa Cruz is Bridging the Digital Divide

By

Ry Marcattilio

on Jun 2, 2021

Join us on Thursday, June 3rd at 5pm ET/4pm CT for a new episode of the Connect This!

Connect This! Episode 14 - The Finance Edition

By

Ry Marcattilio

on May 28, 2021

On Episode 14 of the Connect This! show co-hosts Christopher and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) are joined by Doug Dawson (President, CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (CMO, UTOPIA Fiber) to talk public and private financing models for building network infrastructure.

Waukegan, Illinois Broadband Task Force Issues RFP for Public-Private Partnership

By

Ry Marcattilio

on May 27, 2021

Less than six months after its creation and a year after the city of Waukegan, Illinois (pop.

An Alabama Cooperative Re-enters the Broadband Business, Increases Local Competition

By on May 27, 2021

Fifteen years ago, Covington Electric Cooperative (CEC) was the first in the southeast region of Alabama to bring its members online with dial-up Internet access.

Knoxville Utilities Board Marches Toward FTTH Network

By

Sean Gonsalves

on May 26, 2021

With the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the state’s Comptroller’s office recent approval of the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) business plan, the city-owned utility proposal to build a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network in the Volunteer State’s third-largest city is

FCC’s Emergency Connectivity Funds Ineligible for School and Library Self-Provisioned Networks

By on May 25, 2021

Closing the homework gap has been a top priority for Federal Communications Commission (FCC) acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel.

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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.

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