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Massachusetts Broadband Coalition Is Formed With Focus on Public Private Partnerships
Representing 26 towns across Massachusetts, from Cape Cod to Chelsea, an informal group of mostly town officials have formed the Massachusetts Broadband Coalition in search of a way out of a broken monopoly broadband market to ensure that everyone in their individual communities has access to high-speed Internet. The newly-formed coalition has recently started to meet monthly to share information about what kind of alternatives there might be, or could be, to the big cable monopoly provider in their towns.
Montana Tweaks State Ban On Community Broadband, But Most Restrictions Remain
Hoping to ensure it can actually spend its share of historic broadband funding, Montana lawmakers have tweaked the state’s restrictions on community broadband. However, experts say most of the state law’s pointless restrictions remain intact, undermining state efforts to bring affordable, next-generation broadband access to Montana residents.
SAVE THE DATE: Building for Digital Equity
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.