News

The nonprofit digital equity organization Connect Humanity has struck a new partnership with Microsoft to fund the deployment of affordable broadband access to long neglected residents of Appalachia. Connect Humanity unveiled the IDEA fund last year, stating the $25 million effort would collaborate with Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to “create opportunities for local capital to invest in broadband infrastructure” across 13 Appalachia states.

Minnesota legislators have repealed the state’s preemption laws that prevented cities and towns in the state from providing municipal broadband services. The rollback means that the number of states with laws that limit municipal broadband is now down to 16 states.

Wilbraham, Massachusetts officials are taking the first steps toward building a city-owned open access fiber network – with an eye on boosting local competition and delivering affordable, next-gen broadband access to local residents. The city is currently identifying which company it will hire to deploy fiber to the city of 14,749 with a formal plan to present to voters expected by October.

As the FCC has restored both net neutrality and its Title II authority over Internet access providers, smaller ISPs and municipalities worry the new rules saddle them with burdensome regulations as punishment for the sins of much larger companies. But the FCC, state leaders, and consumer groups insist the rules should be a net benefit all the same.

Utah-based UTOPIA Fiber has added three additional ISPs to its open access network, expanding the total number of partner ISPs to 18 now offering affordable fiber service to residents in the 21 cities UTOPIA serves.

Telecom monopolies have hoovered up the lion’s share of $214 million recently doled out by the Pennsylvania state Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP), with cooperatives, smaller ISPs, and community-owned networks left largely out in the cold. It’s not a surprising move for a state long considered politically hostile to community-owned and operated broadband networks, though industry experts say this latest round of awards was particularly egregious when it comes to dodgy politics and its total lack of any real transparency.

The Senate voted Thursday evening to pass its Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization package without an amendment that would have funded the Affordable Connectivity Program.

Schoharie County, New York officials have applied for a $30 million New York State ConnectALL grant with the hopes of eventually building a $33 million, county-wide fiber network. The shape and scope of the network has yet to be determined, but the county hopes to build a network that brings affordable access to the rural, agriculture-heavy county.

Tribal nations have unique leverage to resolve conflict between Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) projects and Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant funding.

Driven by past successes with city-owned fiber and Wi-Fi, Newark New Jersey has announced the city is significantly expanding the availability of $20/month broadband service to numerous Newark Housing Authority (NHA) apartment buildings. A partnership with Adrena leans heavily on Newark Fiber, a 288-strand city-owned fiber network that has been a cornerstone of the city’s efforts to revitalize and assist many lower income – and long neglected – Newark neighborhoods.

Hoopa Valley PUD General Manager Linnea Jackson hailed as Connectivity Champion at 50th Anniversary Gala of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) in Washington D.C.

James (Jim) Baller’s trailblazing career was honored at the 50th Anniversary Gala of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) in Washington D.C. this week where he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mark your calendars for the April 30 Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Rally and upcoming Building for Digital Equity Event focused on Pathways to Affordable Connectivity.

Construction on a new city-owned fiber network in Cabot, Arkansas will soon bring affordable broadband access to every city resident and business in the state’s “Strawberry Capital.” The network comes courtesy of a partnership with Connect2First, the broadband subsidiary of local power company First Electric Cooperative Corporation, which continues to build on its significant presence across Arkansas.

Ruston, Louisiana officials say they’re throwing in the towel, and will be selling a city-owned fiber network that has existed for the better part of 15 years. City officials say they finalized the decision at a city council meeting earlier this month, though they’d already sent out a Request for Proposal (RFP) for potential bidders as early as February.

Colorado River Indian Tribe was among a handful of Tribes that received substantial funding awards from the USDA ReConnect Grant Program, a reminder that Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program is not the be-all-end-all of funding for Tribal broadband.

Advocates for better Internet access are breathing a sigh of relief in New York as the State Assembly nixed a budget bill amendment that would have undermined the state’s municipal broadband grant program.

In a setback to efforts aimed at enhancing broadband access across Wisconsin, the state Senate this week dealt a blow to three key bills aimed at improving various aspects of broadband provision.

Joplin, Missouri has announced a new broadband public-private partnership (PPP) with ALLO Fiber that should help boost competition and lower rates across the city of 52,000. The partnership poses a particular challenge to regional cable giant CableOne, which currently enjoys a monopoly over broadband access across a whopping 83 percent of the city.

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.