Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar released the initial 2022 Texas Broadband Plan on June 15. The new broadband plan, from Texas' Broadband Development Office (BDO) outlines the state's goals for improving broadband access and affordability. Most notably, Fierce reports, the BDO aims to develop a statewide broadband map by January 2023.
I took part in a webinar last week for the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) that talked about the good, the bad, and the money issues with the upcoming Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants. At the end of the session, the last question asked, “How do you reconcile some of the impractical aspects of the BEAD grant processes with the reality of the market?” My response to the question was to get immediately get involved with your State broadband grant office.
US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $1.7 million grant to the Sullivan County Division of Public Works, Monticello (NY), to increase local internet connectivity. This grant is funded by the American Rescue Plan. This project will enhance community high-speed internet throughout Sullivan County, promoting job creation and economic diversification in the region. This EDA grant will be matched with $415,063 in local funds and is expected to generate $4.5 million in private investment.
Big Tech companies are continuing to try and head off any Federal Communications Commission effort to establish what they said would be 'one-size-fits-all" standards for 5G receivers that would work against the FCC's goals of an innovative 5G environment. The FCC in April 2022 opened an inquiry into setting wireless receiver standards, one of several routes the FCC could take, alone or in tandem, to protect signals in increasingly crowded spectrum bands, a roadmap laid out by FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel.
The Federal Communications Commission launched a major initiative to provide high-speed internet service to rural Americans in 2020, dedicating $9.2 billion through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) to entice companies to extend their networks to places previously deemed too c
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