Community Anchor Institutions

After being officially approved in January, Kingman (AZ)-based Wecom Fiber officially broke ground on its high-speed, fiber broadband network for Flagstaff on April 16. The Flagstaff City Council officially selected Wecom Fiber in September 2024 to bring high-speed broadband Internet to 34 city facilities, including Flagstaff City Hall, the Flagstaff Aquaplex, public libraries, fire stations, and more. The contract was approved in January, with Flagstaff providing $2 million from a city grant to fund the project, with $3 million contributed by Wecom, according to its press release.

The Maine Connectivity Authority is the state agency responsible for implementing the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. The MCA team and partners have worked tens of thousands of hours over the past three years to develop and execute thou

The Reason Foundation remarks to the Federal Communications Commission in response to the In Re: Delete, Delete, Delete request for comments. The Foundation's comments focused on:

The American Library Association submitted remarks to the Federal Communications Commission in response to the In Re: Delete, Delete, Delete request for comments. ALA's comments focused on addressing the regulatory burdens of the E-Rate Program. Recommended changes include:

The Catasaqua Area School District (PA) wrote to the Federal Communications Commission to withdraw from participating in the Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program. Paul Reilly, Network Manager for the school district, wrote, "While we are unable to participate at this moment, we continue to recognize the critical importance of cybersecurity funding and hope that our withdrawal may provide another school the opportunity to highlight the ongoing need for such vital support." 

There's a stark disconnect between our era of internet connectivity and a looming sense of detachment, separation and seclusion for some students in K-12 schools. On March 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to close the US Department of Education and return education oversight to state and l

The Greene County (AL) Health System, with only three doctors, has no intensive care unit or surgical services.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society launched four new research projects to examine a variety of barriers to building and using broadband. Since the passing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021, states have been working to achieve universal internet access through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) and the Digital Equity Act (DEA) programs.

California Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration after millions of dollars in grants to state libraries were terminated abruptly through the Trump administration’s efforts to illegally shutter the agency that administers them.

Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Mark Warner (D-VA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Peter Welch (D-VT), and John Barrasso (R-WY) led a bipartisan group of 60 senators in reintroducing the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act. The CONNECT for Health Act will expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare, make COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities permanent, improve health outcomes, and make it easier for patients to connect with their doctors.