The Pennsylvania Turnpike is ready to make money — potentially tens of millions — by selling space on a new broadband system along the toll road in Eastern Pennsylvania. The agency has nearly completed two projects totaling $95 million to install fiber-optic cable under the berm of about 220 miles of the highway, split almost evenly between the main line from Harrisburg to the New Jersey border and the Northeast Extension. Before the pandemic, the agency already had approved contracts to install the new fiber-optic system, $45 million for the main line and $50 million for the Northeast Extension. Now, with installation scheduled to be done by early 2022, the turnpike and its contract partner, Plenary Broadband Infrastructure, are ready to market space to operate broadband service to underserved areas along the turnpike corridor. The agency approved a 25-year contract with Plenary last year for the company to maintain the turnpike's portion of the system and market excess space to other operators. Plenary has partnered with broadband marketing experts Tilson and Tilson Infrastructure. Kat Chittenden, a spokeswoman for Tilson, said that the partnership already has started marketing broadband space to internet service providers, wireless and wireline providers, municipalities, educational and health care networks, and large enterprises. Tilson will negotiate master agreements with customers who want to use the broadband space. [Oct 12]

Louisiana’s goal is to have broadband service in all unserved areas of the state by 2029. To help bridge the digital divide, applications for Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO) grants are being accepted until December 31. That program, run by the Louisiana Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity (ConnectLA), is designed to help private providers bring more accessible and affordable broadband service to areas that have download speeds of less than 25 Mbps and upload speeds lower than 3 Mbps. “Our program is designed to address the access issue that exists in Louisiana,” said Veneeth Iyengar, executive director of ConnectLA. Iyengar said Internet service providers should work with local municipalities to submit their grant applications. In addition to broadband access and affordability, ConnectLA serves as a resource to local governments throughout Louisiana to help address issues including digital literacy.

In January 2022, America’s wireless providers will begin using a set of radio waves known as C-Band spectrum to expand 5G service to communities large and small across America. But the truth is, we’re playing catch-up. C-Band spectrum is already the backbone of 5G networks around the world because it offers the unique ability to provide high speeds over a wide coverage area, making sure no one gets left out of the new 5G Economy. Nearly 40 countries are already using this spectrum. Recently, the aviation industry and the Federal Aviation Administration have suggested we should delay launching 5G in the C-Band. A delay will cause real harm. Pushing back deployment one year would subtract $50 billion in economic growth, just as our nation recovers and rebuilds from the pandemic. It would leave us further behind the dozens of other countries already using this spectrum, harming our country’s global competitiveness. And it would severely limit our ability to ensure all Americans have access to high-speed mobile broadband just as our nation prepares to invest billions to build broadband infrastructure. Fortunately, there appears to be no valid scientific or engineering basis to justify a delay, and there is overwhelming evidence to support rapid deployment. 5G operates safely in the C-Band without causing harmful interference to air traffic.

[Meredith Attwell Baker is the president and chief executive officer of CTIA, an association of wireless carriers and technology firms, and served as an FCC commissioner from 2009 until 2011.]

As wonderful as telehealth is, it has a serious Achilles' heel. The fate of telehealth adoption is tied to the fate of broadband adoption. And broadband in millions of additional homes isn't strong enough to drive telehealth. Redlining, politics, and adverse economics leaves low-income communities stuck with outdated, broken infrastructure. Annually, billions in government spending to replace obsolete networks passes over big cities and are squandered by large telecom and cable companies before broadband reaches rural homes. The United Soybean Board surveyed farm operations nationwide in 2021, for instance, and found that nearly 60 percent of US farmers and ranchers do not believe they have adequate Internet connectivity to run their businesses let alone meet personal and family needs. Some of the major barriers to quality internet include slow internet speeds, high costs and unreliable service. Yet broadband issues often stem from capacity, not speed issues. Community broadband is often great for curing capacity barriers – networks owned by cities and counties, telephone and electrical co-ops, wireless or local internet service providers, and public-private partnerships. Ask around! Somebody in town might already be planning to build one. Or maybe your health community can lead the pack.

[Saved from a stroke by telehealth, Craig Settles pays it forward by uniting community broadband teams and healthcare stakeholders through telehealth-broadband integration initiatives.]

Comcast’s Internet Essentials program announced a significant new partnership with Goodwill Industries International to provide digital skills and workforce development training for thousands of adults with low incomes at Goodwill nonprofit organizations across the United States. In addition, Comcast will install free WiFi access in Goodwill locations to enable people to get online to search for and apply for jobs as well as take digital skills training and certification programs to prepare for entry and mid-level occupations. “Access to the internet offers a life-changing pathway for workers to get the skills they need to move up the economic ladder and prepare for the jobs of the future, but not everyone is capable of taking full advantage of the technology,” said Broderick Johnson, executive vice president, public policy and executive vice president, digital equity, at Comcast Corporation. “Greater internet adoption and increased digital skills will not only lead to higher-paying jobs, but also make our country more competitive globally.” Comcast is bringing training and free Wi-Fi to eight Goodwill locations across the US, with two additional markets to be named in the coming months.

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic forced millions of children to attend school via the internet, Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel was sounding the alarm about US students who lacked access to broadband. Now as FCC Chairwoman, the first woman in the agency's history to hold that title, Rosenworcel will be in a position to fully tackle this problem, including allocating $14 billion in federal funds to create a permanent subsidy program for affordable broadband. She's also expected to bring back the Obama-era net neutrality protections that Republicans dismantled in 2017. Educators and broadband advocates, who have been pushing for the Senate to quickly vote to confirm her before her term expires at the end of 2021, say she's more than capable of taking on these issues.