Community Anchor Institutions

The Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) at MassTech announced the launch of the Residential Internet Retrofit Program, a $22 million statewide initiative to equip public and affordable housing units across the state with high-speed internet for current and future residents.

The American Rescue Plan invested in all of America and provided direct relief to every town, city, county, Tribe and state for the first time in American history. The American Rescue Plan included major investments to critical areas, including $25 billion to jumpstart universal broadband access—including Broadband Connections for 18 million students through the Emergency Connectivity Fund so that schools and libraries could close the homework gap.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced the E-Rate and Rural Health Care (RHC) programs’ annual caps for funding year 2024. The adjusted amounts represent a 3.6% inflation-adjusted increase to both programs’ funding year 2023 annual caps. The E-Rate program funding cap for funding year 2024 is $4,940,076,139. The RHC program funding cap for funding year 2024 is $706,926,603.

When former librarian and author Jean Armour Polly first introduced the idea of having computers in libraries in the early 1980s, she was met with pushback. "People scoffed and said, 'Why would you go to a library to use a computer?'" she said. Even when the internet rolled around, many librarians felt they were supposed to be the sole gatekeepers of knowledge and information. "But I just knew it would be a wonderful thing. You know, school kids could use [computers] in schools, but what about the lifelong learners? And adults and seniors?" Polly said.

A look at how Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are using Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program funding to impact the students, faculty, staff, and residents in the communities that they serve. According to a 2021 report by McKinsey & Company, 82% of HBCUs are located in broadband deserts. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s funding for minority communities intends to elevate community partners and work toward closing deep-rooted digital divides.

North Dakota is leading the way in precision agriculture, in large part thanks to the work and research being done at the Grand Farm Innovation Campus just outside of Casselton. Precision ag, like almost anything these days, requires reliable, secure, high-speed internet connectivity and that’s where Dakota Carrier Network (DCN) is offering expertise. DCN and Grand Farm have partnered for the wireless infrastructure at the farm, an investment of $200,000. There are four primary components to the connectivity DCN is providing on the Grand Farm Innovation Campus:

The Federal Communications Commission is poised to raise taxes through its Universal Service Fund—a regressive, hidden tax on consumers' phone bills that funds a series of unaccountable, bloated internet subsidy programs. Rather than giving the FCC carte blanche to expand its balance sheet, Congress must reform the USF's structural problems, reevaluate its component programs, and get the FCC's spending under control. Here is my plan to do that. 

The Maine Connectivity Resource Exchange is Maine Connectivity Authority's home to resources and knowledge to support, enable, and empower municipal and Tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, subgrantees, and the public on all aspects of the broadband ecosystem in Maine. The first module is in support of the upcoming BEAD State-Led Challenge Process. This module contains 7 units that will work to guide our partners through this several months-long process.

The Biden-Harris Administration announced the approval of $20 million for digital connectivity projects in Pennsylvania under the US Department of the Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund (CPF). The award will fund Pennsylvania’s Digital Access Opportunity Grant program, through which the commonwealth will partner with community anchor institutions (CAIs) to increase access to laptops, tablets, desktop computers, and Wi-Fi devices to individuals in Pennsylvan

The US Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service is accepting applications under the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program for fiscal year (FY) 2024, subject to the availability of funding. Based on FY 2023 appropriated funding, RUS estimates that approximately $60 million will be available for FY 2024. Successful applications will be selected for funding and subsequently awarded to the extent that funding may ultimately be made available through appropriations.