Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
In December 2016, the Free Press released the extensive report Digital Denied: The Impact of Systemic Racial Discrimination on Home-Internet Adoption. In the 225-page document, Free Press Research Director S.
Private sector companies, trade organizations, and local authority advocacy groups went on record last week in opposition to HB 2108, a Virginia bill that would severely restrict local communities’ options to improve connectivity. They joined together in a letter to the Chairman of the Virginia House Commerce and Labor Committee, there the bill is now waiting for hearing, Republican Terry J.
California
SF's model for citywide gigabit-speed Internet service could come by June by Joshua Sabatini, San Francisco Examiner
Colorado
High-quality connectivity from the local cooperative is attracting economic development to rural Minnesota. Consolidated Telecommunications Company (CTC), began developing a fiber-optic network in the Brainerd area in the early 2000s; as the cooperative has expanded the network, businesses are getting fast, affordable, reliable connectivity.
Conflicts of interest have been front and center in federal politics this election cycle, but there is another place where we see a grey cloud of impropriety: the Virginia General Assembly.
Last week, Virginia State Delegate Kathy Byron introduced a bill that, if passed, will cripple attempts for municipalities to improve local connectivity.
When Delegate Kathy Byron introduced HB 2108, cheekily titled the “Broadband Deployment Act,” she might have not have expected so much attention from local and national reporters.
Baltimore Sun - December 31, 2016
Written by Natalie Sherman
Motherboard Vice - January 10, 2017
Written by Sam Gustin & Jason Koebler
We have already seen Virginia and Missouri take up legislation to preempt local control and deter municipal networks. Although bearing innocuous names such as the “Virginia Broadband Deployment Act,” these bills stifle competition instead of empowering communities.
Proponents of better connectivity in Virginia are setting off alarms about HB 2108, a bill that will effectively bar municipal networks and prevent local communities from working with private sector partners.
Last spring we reported that Spencer Municipal Utilities (SMU) was marching steadily on with its Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) project that it started in 2015.
Folks in rural Virginia who dream about better connectivity woke up this legislative session to a pending Internet access nightmare - and they’re not going to just lie there and take it.
Date: January 17th, 2017
Contact:
Christopher Mitchell
Motherboard Vice - January 17, 2017
Written by Jason Koebler
As legislators in Virginia and Missouri consider bills attacking municipal networks, two Colorado legislators have introduced a bill to repeal its restrictive state law.
Take It Away
Massachusetts
Massachusetts joins effort urging the FCC to release Connect America funding to state by Joan Engebretson, Telecompetitor
Minnesota
The latest addition to our list of fact sheets focuses on Virginia: Municipal Networks Deliver Local Benefits.
In December 2016, the Congressional Research Service office released two reports on federal funding programs to improve high-speed Internet access. One report focuses on Tribal lands, and the other report provides an overview of the digital divide in general.
Dollars for the Digital Divide
