Community Broadband Media Roundup - April 27

Colorado

Glenwood working toward installing a new broadband system over the next two years by Matthew Bennett, Post Independent 

Kentucky 

Locally owned rural telcos establish hotspots to meet demand during pandemic by Toni Riley, Daily Yonder

Massachusetts 

Expanding wireless broadband hubs in unserved communities, Massachusetts Broadband Institute 

New York 

City reaches deal with Greenlight, hopes to leverage terms to bridge digital divide by Brian Sharp, Democrat and Chronicle 

Pennsylvania

Closing the digital divide in rural Pennsylvania by Therese Perlowski, Internet2

Washington

Rural Washington residents working from home adapt to dearth of high-speed Internet connectivity by Amy Edelen, Spokesman

Broadband is primarily a private investment and it’s difficult to make a business case to Internet service providers to deploy in remote areas, because it’s expensive to build towers and lay fiber. If communities can show there are enough people living in the area through mapping, it opens up opportunity for grants that could support broadband infrastructure, Hansen said.

General

Benton says FCC's bad broadband standards and data lead to bad decision again, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society 

Pandemic builds momentum for broadband infrastructure upgrade by John D. McKinnon and Ryan Tracy, The Wall Street Journal 

America’s broadband moment, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society 

With limited Internet, one mom finds a way to home-school outside the home by Ronnie Koenig, Today

Fiber providers see strong demand during COVID-19 pandemic by Martha DeGrasse, Fierce Telecom 

AT&T gave FCC false broadband-coverage data in parts of 20 states by Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica

With Form 477 reports, ISPs are required to tell the FCC which census blocks they offer service in. The FCC uses the data to track broadband-deployment progress and, crucially, to decide which census blocks get government funding for deploying Internet service. AT&T falsely reporting broadband-data coverage could prevent other ISPs from getting that funding and leave Americans without broadband access.

Telecom's latest dumb claim: The Internet only works during a pandemic because we killed Net Neutrality by Karl Bode, Tech Dirt 

Another FCC disaster, POTs and PANs