Universal Broadband

Senate and House Members Introduce PLAN for Broadband Act

Sens Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) along with Reps Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced the Proper Leadership to Align Networks (PLAN) for Broadband Act (S.4767). The legislation requires the President to develop a national strategy to close the digital divide and a plan to implement that strategy. This legislation is based on a Government Accountability Office report that found that federal broadband efforts are fragmented and o

USDA to Begin Accepting Applications on September 6 for ReConnect Program Round 4

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the USDA will begin accepting applications on September 6 for funding to expand access to high-speed internet for millions of people in rural America nationwide through the ReConnect Program, which received new funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). USDA is making additional funding available for high-speed internet in Round 4 of the ReConnect Program.

Is your internet service unreliable? There may be fiber in your future.

Fiber-optic internet (often just known as “fiber”) can be staggeringly faster than the DSL, cable or satellite internet connections that many Americans rely on. It’s also pretty uncommon, relatively speaking.

Attending the first Generation Connect Global Youth Summit

In early June 2022, around 500 young people from more than 100 countries descended on Kigali, Rwanda for the International Telecommunication Union’s first Generation Connect Global Youth Summit. Throughout my brief visit to Kigali, a number of themes emerged:

Treasury approves Delaware’s plan to invest $40.3 million in nine libraries to provide communities with public access to the internet

The US Department of the Treasury approved Delaware’s plan to invest $40.3 million of Capital Projects Fund funding in nine libraries to provide communities with public access to the internet and expanded resources. Delaware’s plan states that each of the library projects will provide access to highspeed internet for community members who may lack access in their homes. Capital Projects Fund dollars will be used to construct new or expand existing libraries in Delaware to meet the needs of identified communities.

FCC Extends Deadlines for the Covid-19 Telehealth Program Round 2

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau extends two deadlines for Round 2 of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program (COVID-19.

Mower County (MN) Maps Broadband Expansion for Underserved Areas

Federal and state funds will be used to expand access to high speed Internet in underserved areas of Mower County (MN). While it's getting better, there is still work to do in getting high-speed Internet to all corners of the county.

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $500,000 High-Speed Internet Grant to Ione Band of Miwok Indians

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration awarded the Ione Band of Miwok Indians $459,000 through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. The Ione Band of Miwok Indians will use the grant to fund a study to develop a comprehensive high-speed internet infrastructure deployment plan encompassing Tribal Lands in rural Amador County, California. The Tribe intends to focus its plan on needs and gaps associated with its newly acquired 2.5 GHz license from the FCC.

Will Unlicensed Fixed Wireless Technology Make the Cut with the BEAD Program?

One of the biggest surprises in the rules that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued for the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) rural broadband funding program was the agency’s definition of “reliable broadband”—at least with regard to fixed wireless. While fixed wireless using “entirely licensed spectrum or a hybrid of licensed and unlicensed spectrum” was considered “reliable,” fixed wireless “relying entirely on unlicensed spectrum” was not.

Leaving Cleveland’s ‘worst-connected city’ status behind

The irony — and frustration — of Cleveland’s status as one of the least-connected cities in the country is that we are home to a number of the early digital inclusion leaders that helped to put the issue on the national stage. So, why haven’t we made more progress towards digital equity? The answer is leadership, and the opportunity to reverse this trend is now.

Millions of Californians Lack the High-Speed Internet Capacity Needed to Get a Job

When it comes to finding a job, a phone may be enough to fill out an application at McDonald’s or Home Depot if you have a reliable internet connection. But if a job application is more complicated, say, requiring a résumé or a CV, the process of applying by phone can range from exasperating to impossible, especially if your internet connection is sketchy.

Investing in Appalachian Broadband

Established in 1965 by an act of Congress, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is putting $30 million in grants per year into broadband. The 13-state region, encompassing 423 counties and 25.7 million people, only has high-speed broadband to 21% of homes in the most economically challenged areas, a statistic ARC wants to change. Among ARC’s biggest focuses are prepping communities for putting in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program applications and funding planning grants so communities can figure out exactly what they should be doing with their BEAD applications.

Should Grant Networks Allow High Prices?

Should higher-than-market rates be allowed on a broadband network that is being subsidized with public funding? Should an agency that awards grants or other broadband subsidies somehow insist that broadband rates are somehow tied to market rates? That’s a lot harder question to answer than you might think because the question implies that these agencies have the power to regulate or cap broadband prices in grant areas. The Ajit Pai Federal Communications Commission voluntarily gave away the right for the FCC to regulate broadband rates when it gave up Title II authority.

Wireless in Communities of Color: Bridging the Digital Divide

This paper presents a history of the digital divide, major steps in closing it, and how we can continue expanding access to transform lives for communities of color. To close the digital divide, policymakers should focus on: 1) further expanding access, 2) increasing adoption, and 3) encouraging skill development.

FCC Announces $77 Million In Emergency Connectivity Funding

The Federal Communications Commission committed over $77 million in two new funding rounds through the Emergency Connectivity Program, helping to close the Homework Gap. These latest funding rounds are part of an ongoing support from the program, which launched in 2021 and has provided schools and libraries three different “application windows,” for schools and libraries to apply for support.

Greg Walden Gives Advice on How To Win Broadband Funding

Former House Commerce Committee Chairman Freg Walden (R-OR) has a simple answer for small cable operators that are hard pressed to know how to navigate the bureaucratic quagmire to broadband finding: get to know the decisionmakers. He said that to win those funds, small operators are going to have to learn how their state government machinery works. “[E]ach state is going to be a little different, some will be better staffed and ready for this money,” Walden said.

Please Make Broadband Grant Applications Public

Most broadband grant programs do not publish open grant applications for the public to see. But we are in a time when a broadband provider that is awarded funding for bringing a new broadband network is likely to become the near-monopoly provider in a rural area for a decade or two to come. The public ought to get to see who is proposing to bring them broadband so that these decisions are not made behind closed doors. It turns out that the Nebraska Public Service Commission posts grant applications online.

Kansas Launches Capital Project Fund Broadband Infrastructure Program

The Capital Project Fund program was developed to bring broadband infrastructure that will deliver speeds that meet or exceed symmetrical speeds of 100 Mbps to unserved areas across Kansas.  All locations within the census blocks being served and funded through this program will be required to adhere to minimum speeds listed above.  Fiber-optic infrastructure projects that focus on achieving last-mile connections will be prioritized.

The roadmap to telehealth efficacy: Care, health, and digital equities

The United States has long struggled with a health care system that is both expensive and often inaccessible when it comes to providing certain populations with equitable care. The White House and Congress acted quickly to transition patients to telehealth during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the future adoption and use of telehealth will depend on how the U.S. health care system addresses coverage and reimbursement, medical licensure, and service modalities.

Gov. Edwards Announces a Major Federal Investment in Broadband Expansion Statewide and New Digital Literacy Pilot Programs

Gov. John Bel Edwards (D-LA) announced a $130 million investment from the American Rescue Plan to bring more affordable and accessible internet to more than 66,000 households and small businesses through Internet Service Providers in 50 parishes. Applications for the first phase of the grant were submitted through Louisiana’s broadband grant program called Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO). The total investment from the American Rescue Plan is $176 million, out of which $130 million is being used for this first phase.

Small Broadband Providers and the Affordable Connectivity Program

Several small broadband providers are having trouble navigating the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Care Program (ACP). They are wondering if they should drop their participation. There is no one major specific complaint about the administration of the program but a string of problems. The ACP rules are overly complex. There doesn’t seem to be any training available to providers joining the program. The ACP system returns unhelpful error messages when something doesn’t work. Why are these kinds of issues problematic for smaller providers?

Nation’s Mayors Launch Standing Committee on Technology and Innovation to Strengthen City Broadband Deployment, Cybersecurity Defenses, and Digital Services

The US Conference of Mayors (USCM) President Miami Mayor Francis Suarez named Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell as the first chair of the organization’s new Standing Committee on Technology and Innovation.

Forging the Future of Digital Agriculture

When the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN) launched in late 2017 to develop north-central Indiana into a global epicenter for digital agriculture and the Internet of Things (IoT), it turned to Dr. Johnny Park for leadership. Since 2018, Park has served as CEO of WHIN and its pacesetting efforts in a 10-county area of the Hoosier state. Park joined WHIN from Spensa, a successful IoT agtech startup he founded.

Vermont announces $48 million in broadband grants to communications union districts

Gov Phil Scott (R-VT) announced $48 million in new grants to Vermont’s communications union districts, the municipal organizations working to connect homes that are without a reliable wireline connection to fiber-optic cable. Vermont has an ambitious plan that combines private investment and public funds to connect every resident with fiber-optic cable. For the largely rural regions of the state without access to high-speed internet, Vermont is relying on a strategy