Originally published: April 26, 2010
Last updated: April 26, 2010 - 3:37pm
The County Executives of America (CEA), an association of over 700 member counties across the country, said Monday April 26 it plans to create a nationwide wireless broadband network to provide free service to residents using AWS-3 spectrum held by the federal Communications Commission.
It has applied for $122 million in broadband stimulus bucks to launch the network in a dozen counties to start with, with Silicon Valley-based M2Z Networks building out the plant in each county. The counties where Internet service providers could be facing new competition from the network first are Allegheny County, Pa.; Bronx County, N.Y.; Chambers and Kaufmann Counties, Texas; DeKalb County, Ga.; Kenosha County, Wis.; New Castle County, Del.; Prince George's and Montgomery Counties, Md. CEA says that the biggest obstacle to adoption is cost, and that equal access to broadband by those who can't afford it is a "right of every American."