Since the late 1990s Colorado has tried to expand access to high-speed broadband. It’s been done in starts and stops, and sometimes not at all. Now Colorado is getting a huge amount of federal money, more than $826 million in Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding that was part of the 2021 infrastructure law to help expand broadband internet across the state and the country.
Thursday, August 24, 2023
Governor Kristi Noem (R-SD) and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) announced the final round of funding that will award up to $27 million to connect rural South Dakota to high-speed broadband. The Connect SD broadband program has connected tens of thousands of households and businesses to high-speed broadband since Governor Noem took office in 2019. Over $269.5 million has been invested into broadband expansion in South Dakota. This investment will be crucial for South Dakota’s workforce development and future economic efforts.
Two key Republican lawmakers are opposing a Federal Communications Commission proposal that would expand the E-rate program to allow it to pay for Wi-Fi on school buses and mobile hotspots that schools can loan out to students.
The last time the Federal Communications Commission raised the standard for broadband, the internet was a much different place. Most people were still commuting to work, relying on their employer’s high-speed internet connection.
A growing Midwestern provider is continuing their Indiana expansion by bringing fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and business services in southeastern Indiana. Great Plains Communications (GPC) will expand its network to the communities of Aurora and Vevay (IN). In addition, the company will utilize Next Level Connections Broadband Grant Program funding to expand its network to reach more homes and businesses in specific unserved areas of southeastern Indiana. GPC currently owns over 18,000 miles of fiber network reaching 13 states.
Low take rates have broadband experts talking about how to pique subscriber interest in the high-speed internet capabilities now available across the US. Matt Collins, chief commercial officer at Calix, said that building higher speed tiers as many providers have been doing “is an incredible capex investment strategy," and "something we all have to do.” Although, in spite of providers racing against each other to provide the highest speed tiers on the market, he noted “subscribers don't understand
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