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Maine Awards $9.6 Million For Fiber In Lincoln, Waldo Counties
The Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) has unveiled $9.6 million in new grant awards to help bring affordable fiber to over 15,000 homes and businesses across 12 widely underserved communities in the Pine Tree state. The grants will primarily be focused on leveraging public-private partnerships to drive fiber into unserved locations in Waldo and Lincoln Counties.
NDIA Launches New Program to Recognize Indigenous Digital Inclusion Initiatives
The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) has announced a new initiative, Seven Star Communities, to highlight the excellent work being done by Native communities to “strengthen self-determination and close the digital divide through sustainable digital inclusion work.” Increasingly, Native nations are advancing digital inclusion priorities and programs that foreground self-determination and sovereignty.
Oakland Secures $15 Million Grant To Bring Broadband Into Underserved Neighborhoods
Oakland, California will use ARPA grant funds to construct a city-owned, open-access, hybrid middle mile/last mile fiber network that will support the city housing authority's “Free Internet Initiative.” The Oakland project not only paves the way for the city to connect 14 community anchor institutions (CAIs) and nine public safety buildings, it will also expand high-speed Internet access to thousands of unserved and underserved addresses in West and East Oakland.
Tribes, Cooperatives, and Counties Nab $1.4 Million In New Mexico Grants
The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) has awarded $1.4 million in grants to 15 counties, tribal communities, cooperatives, and municipalities for planning, engineering and grant writing to expand broadband access. The funding not only allows these communities to begin analyzing their local connectivity needs in more detail, it potentially opens the door to helping them apply for more than $675 million in BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Development) grants.
Fort Collins Municipal Network Celebrates 20,000 Subscriber Milestone
Fort Collins, Colorado's award-winning municipal fiber network is celebrating its growth by giving away a year of free Internet access to 20 randomly chosen subscribers. Buoyed by its successes, Fort Collins has since started striking intergovernmental agreements with unserved neighboring communities in Larimer County in a bid to further extend affordable access to locals long-neglected by regional monopolies.
INCOMPAS Views Broadband As A Highly Concentrated Arena
With the Federal Communications Commission preparing a biennial report to Congress assessing competition in communications, some industry stakeholders have voiced concern over the growing dominance of a few major players.
Brownsville, Texas is Lit and Ready To Launch Into The Future
As Brownsville, Texas continues to make progress on an ambitious revitalization initiative, it is now transforming the digital landscape along the border with a citywide fiber network to bring fast, reliable, and affordable Internet service to its nearly 200,000 residents. The effort is being launched on the back of a city-owned middle mile fiber backbone and a partnership with Lit Fiber to build out last mile service, operating as Lit Fiber BTX.
ILSR GIS Analyst to Present on ACP ‘Data Wrangling’ at Posit Conf 2024
ILSR's Senior GIS Analyst Christine Parker will be flying into Seattle, Washington this week to join a breakout session at the annual gathering of open source data scientists.
Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative Seeks Relief From Ongoing CAF II Mess
EMPOWER Broadband, a subsidiary of Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative, is asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to waive financing requirements attached to the provider’s takeover of thousands of subsidized broadband locations from RiverStreet Networks. It’s a move the cooperative says will save it millions of dollars in errant additional penalties and puts a spotlight on the ongoing challenges facing a program that has long been criticized for dysfunction and mismanagement.
Digital Inclusion Advocates Talk Telehealth and Broadband Access
In the latest episode of the Building for Digital Equity Podcast, ILSR's Digital Equity Coordinator Jordan Pittman sits down with advocates from the Reproductive Health Initiative for Telehealth Equity and Solutions (RHITES) to discuss the importance of addressing barriers to telehealth.
What Happens Now That the Fifth Circuit Has Ruled the Universal Service Fund is Unconstitutional?
On July 24, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 9-7 that the Universal Service Fund is unconstitutional. The decision throws a whole raft of federal broadband programs - including those which help schools pay for connectivity, those which help homes pay for home Internet access, and more - into a state of uncertainty.
CVEC’s Firefly Nabs $12.2 Million Of $41 Million In New Virginia Broadband Grants
Central Virginia Electric Cooperative’s (CVEC) Firefly Broadband subsidiary has been awarded a new $12.2 million grant from the state of Virginia. The award will help fund a major update to an already massive effort to extend affordable broadband to vast swaths of rural Virginia. The $12.2 million in Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) grant funding will be used to help fund a broader $48.6 million partnership with Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, Dominion Energy, and county governments.