resource

Content tagged with "resource"

Displaying 1 - 10 of 116

New Ideas in Competition Policy

Image
VPA report

A new report out from Vanderbilt University's Policy Accelerator re-emphasizes some of the important steps federal government agencies could take to make sure that upcoming Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding is used as efficiently and equitably as possible. 

New Ideas in Competition Policy covers ground beyond the broadband space - including agriculture, commerce, energy, and more - but authors Ramsay Eyre and Ganesh Sitaraman hit again some of the important and well-trod ground. Among them, they argue that:

  1. NTIA should remove the letter of credit (LOC) requirement for participating in BEAD entirely, as it is a barrier for new and smaller entrants.
  2. NTIA should consider all Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) areas as eligible for BEAD funding, given the number and level of defaulting the program as seen.
  3. NTIA should effect a rulemaking that takes a strong stance against state municipal preemption laws, either by refusing final proposals from those states or issue a rule preempting these laws itself.

The Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator conducts research and writes about markets of all different shapes around the United States. 

Read New Ideas in Competition Policy.

New Resource Alert: ILSR Unveils Community Networks Predictive Map

In September we released our updated map pinpointing the location of the 400 municipally owned Internet service providers now serving almost 800 communities across the United States.

Today, we unveil our predictive map which was created by our Senior GIS Analyst Christine Parker.

The map provides a multi-layered look into the near future of community broadband networks.

It not only shows where existing community-owned fiber networks are located but also highlights how those networks will expand in the coming years based on formally announced plans and secured funding to complete network builds.

A few things to note about the map (below at bottom):

  • The map only shows community-owned fiber networks.

     

  • The darkest shaded layers show the footprint that is already built representing data from the FCC's Broadband Data Collection.

     

  • Lighter shaded layers show the footprint that has not been built yet but where federal funding has been secured to expand, based on the FCC’s Broadband Funding Map.

     

AAPB Launches New Mentorship Program For Communities Considering Municipal Broadband

As interest in municipal broadband continues to grow across the U.S., the American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB) has launched a mentorship program that will pair communities interested in building publicly-owned, locally controlled broadband networks with cities and towns that have successfully done so.

“We’re excited to match AAPB members with communities seeking to take control of their broadband futures,” AAPB Executive Director Gigi Sohn said in announcing the program.

“We want to demystify the process for those communities that want to ensure that everyone in their city or town has affordable access to everything that broadband enables, and we believe that our members that own their broadband infrastructure are the best people to do that.”

Image
Community Nets map

While an increasing number of communities are exploring municipal broadband as a solution to local connectivity challenges after decades of frustration with the spotty, expensive service of big monopoly providers consistently ranked as among the most hated companies in America, local officials still must navigate the logistical, technical, financial, and political challenges associated with building and operating municipal networks.

New Resource: Our New Community Network Map Shows the Explosion of Publicly Owned Networks

In 2011, we built our first map showing where community-owned networks were located across the United States. At the time, it aimed to illustrate what we knew to be true: that more than 100 communities were choosing to fill the local broadband marketplace by building and/or operating their own networks.

The goal was twofold: to highlight the work local governments were doing to fix the broken broadband market in their communities, and collect in one place the breadth,  depth, and variety of community-owned networks. Over time, we added Tribal networks, and those operated by telephone and electric cooperatives.

Today we release a new version of our Community Networks Map, showing where municipal networks operate across the United States and how they are bringing new, more affordable service and competition to communities around the country. From 130 networks covering a similar number of communities in 2011, the new map shows that municipally owned Internet service providers now total more than 400 networks covering more than 700 communities. A third of those networks provide high-speed Internet access to nearly every address in the communities where they are located.

Blueprints for BEAD: Stakeholders May Use Rebuttal Power to Prevent New Errors in BEAD Maps

Blueprints for BEAD is a series of short notes and analysis on nuances of BEAD that might otherwise get lost in the volume of material published on this federal funding program. Click the “Blueprints for BEAD” tag at the bottom of this story for other posts.
 

By mid June, we will have blown past the halfway mark in the BEAD challenge process - with more than thirty states having completed their “challenge windows” and another handful set to close imminently. But the “challenge window” is only part of the overall challenge process, and there are reasons for communities to stay engaged with the process even after that window closes. Communities - don’t sleep on the rebuttal window!

Where We Sit Today

Each state must conduct a challenge process prior to opening up BEAD grants to verify that the data on the National Broadband Map is accurate. That process will have three stages: the challenge window, the rebuttal window, and the determination window. During the challenge window, eligible challengers (local and Tribal governments, nonprofits, and ISPs) can present evidence that locations are incorrectly categorized as served, underserved, or served. According to the NTIA’s Challenge Process Policy Notice, those same eligible entities can participate in the rebuttal window, where they supply evidence refuting a challenge that was made by someone else. After both of these periods are over, the state weighs all of the evidence and makes a final determination (determination window). 

Why might this rebuttal period be important for communities? In short, not all challenges are created equally. While we might primarily think of challenges that make the map more accurate, some challenges could, in fact, make the map less accurate. Some ISPs might make questionable challenges about the level of service they can or will provide.

New Resource Alert: Rising Tide of Municipal Broadband Networks Fact Sheet

As the municipal broadband movement continues to gain momentum, we created a new fact sheet to highlight the dramatic surge in the number of communities building publicly-owned, locally controlled high-speed Internet infrastructure over the last three years.

In January, we announced our updated tally of municipal broadband networks across the U.S., which showed that between January 2021 and January 2024 at least 47 new municipal networks had been lit up for service.

Our census of new municipal broadband networks comes while dozens of other projects are still in the planning or pre-construction phase, which includes the possibility of building 40 new municipal networks in California alone.

The new fact sheet not only contains pertinent numbers to illustrate the rising tide of municipal broadband networks, it also includes snapshots of four recently launched networks now providing service to communities hungry for high-quality Internet connectivity and competitive choice.

You can find the new Rising Tide of Municipal Broadband fact sheet here.

Image
New Muni Fact Sheet screenshot

Community Broadband Resource Pairing

AAPB and Benton Publish New Handbook: ‘How To Build A Public Broadband Network’

More cities and towns across the U.S. are exploring municipal broadband as an increasingly attractive and effective approach to bring ubiquitous, and affordable, high-speed Internet to its residents and businesses.

Now, a new handbook has been published that is tailored to guide local officials in navigating the logistical, technical, financial, and political challenges along the way.

Hot off the presses this week comes “Own Your Internet: How To Build A Public Broadband Network” – a project of the American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB), published in partnership with the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.

Image
AAPB handbook cover

“This handbook is a key part of AAPB's strategy to double the number of public networks in the next five years, supporting communities in leveraging these networks for economic development, smart city initiatives, and attracting new residents," AAPB Executive Director Gigi Sohn said in announcing the handbook release.

Benton Executive Director Adrianne B. Furniss said the collaboration in publishing the guide made sense because “every community has a stake in this broadband moment—and they must have the tools they need to decide how they will meet their connectivity needs. We trust that this handbook is one of many tools communities will use to assess their situation and plan for a connected future.”

New Resource: Fact Sheet on Broadband Basics from Center for Digital Equity

As our team continues to work with state and local community organizations across the country to help build digital skills and offer broadband educational resources, we came across this handy Broadband Basics Fact Sheet we wanted to share from the Queens at Queens University of Charlotte Center for Digital Equity (CDE).

In simple, accessible language, the two-page fact sheet from CDE explains commonly used words related to Internet access that are often not well-defined or understood outside of the tech industry.

Image
CDE Factsheet screenshot one page

The fact sheet serves as a useful reminder that Internet access terminology itself can be a barrier to greater adoption, which is why we like CDE’s work here in answering the following questions:

  • What is broadband?
  • What is WiFi?
  • What is mobile broadband?
  • What is the difference between 3G, 4G, 5G, AND LTE?
  • What is 10G?
  • What is a fiber optic network?
  • What is the difference between a modem and router?

The fact sheet can be found by clicking link below:

Our Affordable Connectivity Program Dashboard is Back and Better Than Ever

Last August, we launched the first version of our Affordable Connectivity Program dashboard. The goal was to take the confusing and inaccessible federal data on program penetration, signups, and use, and create a tool useful for local governments, policymakers, and broadband advocates working to bring the monthly $30 service benefit to as many households as possible. 

Now, two versions later, we're back with a 2.0 version of the dashboard. It still tracks everything it did before (state- and county-level enrollment, wireline versus mobile use, a predictive model, and more), with one important revision and one new addition.

Visit acpdashboard.com, or click here to see the dashboard

First, we've reworked the methodology we use to calculate how many households are eligible and taking advantage of the benefit. Because families can qualify in a number of ways (and families who qualify one way often, but not always, qualify in one or more other ways), we've used microdata from the American Community Survey (ACS) (5 yr, 2017 - 2021) to calculate eligibility. In addition, we've added an adjustment factor to account for the ratio of the income-only eligible enrollment rate to the income + program eligible enrollment rate. By incorporating the ACS microdata and the adjustment factor, we can much more faithfully account for the total number of households who are eligible; by matching it against our existing zip-code level dataset, we have what we believe is the most nuanced and comprehensive picture of ACP enrollment in the nation. 

At present, 31 percent of 52.2 million eligible households use the Affordable Connectivity Program benefit.

Data-Driven Policy Solutions - Episode 531 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast

Community Broadband Bits

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Senior Reporter, Editor and Communications Team Lead Sean Gonsalves and GIS and Data Visualization Specialist Christine Parker to talk about how bad data can blind us and good data can drive positive policy solutions. First, they talk about a new guide developed by ILSR to help citizen-advocates, nonprofits, and state and local elected officials navigate navigate the FCC's frustrating new Broadband Data Collection initiative. Intended to create new national broadband maps and drive the $42 billion BEAD infrastructure dollars starting in 2023, Christopher, Christine, and Sean talk about sticking points in the process, what's important to know, and what happens if our national broadband data continues to perpetuate harmful inequities.

Then, Christine fills Sean and Christopher in on the latest news with the Affordable Connectivity Program dashboard release earlier this fall, designed to unpack and visualize what folks need to know about the $30/month service benefit in order to help the most people and plan for future policy solutions. Christine shares how it was designed and lessons learned along the way, including what happens when an non-governmental entity (in this case, USAC) is given authority to manage critical social welfare programs but not compelled to share in clear enough ways what the public needs in order to perform accountability and research on them.

This show is 33 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed

Transcript below. 

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance here.

Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.