Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Congress Could Soon Decide Fate And Future of the Affordable Connectivity Program

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance estimates that the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) will run out of money in 2024.

Initial BEAD Proposals and Five Year Action Plans Come Into Focus

The key for states to unlock their portion of the $42.5 billion in federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funds is the submission and approval of their Five Year Action Plans and Final Proposal.

Increased Wellness and Economic Return of Universal Broadband Infrastructure

This report examines 10 counties in rural Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi to explore how the costs of achieving true digital equity—by extending robust broadband infrastructure into areas missing it—can be offset by utilizing the potential of telehealth to improve healthcare delivery. To do so, this report first identifies the most common health issues affecting residents in these 10 counties and draws on an academic scholarship to demonstrate the benefits that could come from effective telehealth interventions for each.

Massachusetts Broadband Coalition Is Formed With Focus on Public Private Partnerships

Representing 26 towns across Massachusetts from Cape Cod to Chelsea, an informal group of mostly town officials has formed the Massachusetts Broadband Coalition in search of a way out of a broken broadband market and to ensure everyone in their individual communities has access to high-speed Internet. The newly-formed coalition has recently started to meet monthly to share information about what kind of alternatives there might be or could be, to the big cable monopoly provider in their towns.

Syracuse, New York Votes to Provide Low Cost Fixed Wireless Broadband to Low Income Households

City officials in Syracuse (NY) have formally approved a new project to provide heavily discounted wireless broadband to low-income city residents. The plan is being made possible courtesy of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), $123 million of which has been doled out to Syracuse city leaders for various urban improvement efforts. After issuing a request for proposals (RFP) in 2022, Syracuse officials say they’ve selected Community Broadband Networks FLX to help build the fledgling, city-owned network.

ISLR Affordable Connectivity Program Dashboard v2.0

In August 2022,  we launched the first version of our Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) dashboard. The goal was to take the confusing and inaccessible federal data on program penetration, signups, and use, and create a tool useful for local governments, policymakers, and broadband advocates working to bring the benefit to as many households as possible. Now, we're back with a 2.0 version of the dashboard.

Open Access Conduit in West Des Moines Brings Google Fiber, Choice to City Residents

West Des Moines (IA) is making steady progress on a $60 million open-access fiber-optic conduit system to expedite the delivery of affordable fiber citywide. And they’re doing it with the help of Google Fiber. West Des Moines is a suburb of Des Moines with a population of 67,000. Like so many US communities, locals have long complained of high broadband prices, spotty coverage, and terrible customer service by the area’s entrenched local monopolies.

CUDs Lead Affordable Fiber Revolution in Vermont

When it comes to affordable broadband, Vermont has always been a trailblazer.

ILSR Launches Affordable Connectivity Program Dashboard

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) has created a new dashboard that pulls together a host of information from the Universal Service Administrative Company on where and how the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) money is being spent. Located at ACPdashboard.com, this new resource from ILSR includes information local broadband advocates, nonprofits, state legislators, and policymakers need to know about where enrollment efforts and expended funds stand.

Two Initiatives to Foster Local Broadband Solutions

Two new programs will help leaders and local government officials address their community’s needs in practical, efficient, clear-eyed ways, with sensitivity to all the things that make their community unique: the "Urban Digital Equity Bootcamp," (UDEB) and the "Let's Get Going Broadband Program" (LGGB).

Tracking Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Winners

The Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) is still in the process of authorizing bids from its $9.2 billion auction conducted in December 2020. Areas for which winning bids are authorized will have a much harder time going after Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program funding.

The Fate of the Affordable Connectivity Program

The White House made much ado of an announcement that it had secured commitments from a collection of large Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to adjust speed tiers and monthly costs for their existing plans so as to be able to offer a $30/month, minimum 100 megabit per second (Mbps) download offering for low-income households across the country.