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AARP Minnesota Broadband Webinar Slated for Next Week
AARP Minnesota has taken notice: “broadband infrastructure has not been deployed evenly to communities across the state.”
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance Announces Two Initiatives to Foster Local Broadband Solutions
Every day, we hear from communities looking to orient themselves to the connectivity challenges and opportunities they face, and this need only seems to be growing. In response, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is excited to announce two new programs to help leaders and local government officials address their community’s needs in practical, efficient, clear-eyed ways, with sensitivity to all the things that make their community unique.
NTIA Rejects Grafton County, New Hampshire Bid, Officials Seek Other Funding for Middle Mile Network
One way or another, Grafton County, New Hampshire is lining up funding to build a massive new middle-mile network county officials hope will drive broadband competition—and more affordable fiber—into long underserved New Hampshire communities.
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance Announces Two Initiatives to Foster Local Broadband Solutions
Communities across the United States today sit at a flash point. On one side, the long-simmering gaps in our broadband infrastructure and the prohibitive cost of fast, reliable Internet access faced by low-income households have left millions of families behind. On the other, billions in federal broadband funding have been disbursed over the last twelve months, with tens of billions more to come. It’s a rare chance to address the digital divide in all of its forms. In response, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is excited to announce two new programs to help leaders and local government officials address their community’s needs in practical, efficient, clear-eyed ways, with sensitivity to all the things that make their community unique.
RDOF, Universal Service Fund, and the Future of Video | Episode 50 of the Connect This! Show
Join us live on Thursday, August 18th, at 3:30pm 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 guest Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Casey Lide, Partner at Keller and Heckman.
Capital Projects Fund Deadline Extended for Tribes to August 15
The application deadline for the Capital Projects Fund, which will direct $100 million in federal funding to Tribal governments to build broadband infrastructure, has been extended to August 15th, 2022.
Duluth, Minnesota Ponders A Major Bet On Open Access Fiber
Like countless U.S. communities, Duluth, Minnesota (pop. 86,000) got a crash course on the importance of affordable broadband during the Covid-19 crisis. Those struggles in telecommuting and home education helped fuel a dramatic new broadband expansion plan that, if approved by the city council, could revolutionize affordable access citywide.
Capital Projects Fund Deadline Extended for Tribes to August 15
The application deadline for the Capital Projects Fund, which will direct $100 million in federal funding to Tribal governments to build broadband infrastructure, has been extended to August 15th, 2022. It's a relateively simple applicat
Cleveland Seeks Partner to Turn ‘Worst-Connected City’ into Smart Fiber City
Three years ago, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) ranked Cleveland as the worst-connected city in the United States (with more than 100,000 households). City leaders are now using its American Rescue Plan funds to make that dishonorable distinction a thing of the past with a plan to invest $20 million to get the “Comeback City’s” digital future rockin’ n rollin’. Earlier this summer the city issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) that “seeks one or more partners” to help bridge Cleveland’s digital divide following a two-phased approach that first addresses the city’s immediate needs before tackling its longer-term strategic goals. The deadline for submitting proposals is fast-approaching.
Duluth, Minnesota Ponders A Major Bet On Open Access Fiber
Like countless U.S. communities, Duluth, Minnesota (pop. 86,000) got a crash course on the importance of affordable broadband during the Covid-19 crisis. Those struggles in telecommuting and home education helped fuel a dramatic new broadband expansion plan that, if approved by the city council, could revolutionize affordable access citywide.
LTD and Starlink Booted from Rural Digital Opportunity Fund by FCC
In a release today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it was voiding applications by two of the biggest Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) bidders from December 2020. This includes more than $885 million for Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) provider Starlink and more than $1.3 billion for LTD Broadband, Inc.
Local Internet Choice BUDs in Waldo County, Maine
The Southwestern Waldo County Broadband Coalition (SWCBC) is close to securing a major victory for local Internet choice in the face of a well-funded opposition campaign sweeping the Pine Tree State as the Big Telecom lobby and its allies try to undermine the very idea of publicly-owned, locally-controlled broadband networks in Maine and elsewhere. The five SWCBC towns clustered about 30 miles east of Augusta are looking to create what is known as a Broadband Utility District (BUD). Four of those towns recently voted in favor of establishing a BUD. Montville will vote later this month.