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A connection to high-speed and reliable internet is a necessity in most homes, but tens of thousands of Mainers are still lagging behind. According to state data, nearly 80,000 households in Maine don't meet the minimum standard for high-speed internet. The State of Maine is expected to distribute a record amount of funding in 2022 to help connect the tens of thousands of residents who are considered unserved by high-speed internet.

The Biden administration rolled out the Affordable Connectivity Program to help low-income people pay for service. The federal government should not stop with this subsidy program when it addresses the affordability component of the digital divide. Internet service providers (ISPs) will get a lot of new customers as the government pays to extend service to areas that have not been worth serving when the companies were stringing the wires, and it would be a shame if the businesses were allowed to use their near-monopolies to drive up prices for everyone else.

Loup Power District is developing a funding resolution that can lead to the construction of a 300-mile backbone network to help area farmers receive high-speed broadband. The effort will affect residents in four rural counties: Boone, Colfax, Nance and Platte (NE). The power company is developing a funding resolution that would be executed by each public entity involved in a potential backbone network in the four-county area.

The city of El Paso (TX) is shifting its focus from providing COVID-19 relief to recovery as the county experiences low weekly coronavirus cases. More than $154 million were allocated from the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds in accordance with the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) requirements to various departments and programs across the city. Of this funding, El Paso is devoting $10 million to last-mile broadband infrastructure to expand the city's backbone to areas 54 percent below the poverty line.

The Missouri Legislature approved several pockets of broadband funding in the state budget this session, but the total remains millions short of the governor's recommendations. The Missouri General Assembly passed a record state budget totaling $49 billion, which now awaits Gov Mike Parson (R-MO)'s approval. The budget includes roughly $372 million for broadband internet development and programs -- nearly $100 million lower than a plan proposed by Parson. At the 2021 state fair, Parson announced a plan to invest $400 million in broadband development across the state.

Data from the 2021 NTIA Internet Use Survey show that historically less-connected communities used the Internet and connected devices in greater numbers than they did two years ago before the COVID-19 pandemic.

A key provision in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs ACT (IIJA) calls for funding for broadband and other projects to go toward those which use products and materials containing primarily domestic-made components. But a growing number of broadband groups and vendors have told the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) that’s just not realistic.

For nearly a decade, veteran technologist Steve Perlman has been

BroadbandUSA’s Tribal Broadband Planning Toolkit provides the guidance, knowledge, and resources to design, implement, and then execute a broadband plan in Tribal communities. The toolkit outlines seven, common elements that serve as the building blocks of a Tribal broadband plan:

Frontier Communications is looking to raise a total of $1.2 billion through a debt offering of lien-secured notes to help keep its fiber expansion plan rolling along. The company originally planned to seek $800 million, but subsequently bumped up its target figure by $400 million. It did not provide a reason for the change. The notes on offer will bear interest at a rate of 8.75 percent each year and must be repaid by 2030. Alongside the debt, Frontier announced it increased its revolving credit facility to a total of $900 million.