County

AT&T, in public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority, added a new 5G cell site in Brantley County (GA) as a direct result of state and local public safety feedback, boosting wireless connectivity for first responders on 

For Headlines readers who got nervous for me this morning, I’m fine, but… After five years, today is my last day working at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. When I was in college, one of my professors told me to subscribe to a newsletter, Benton’s Daily Digest (or “Headlines,” to me and to many). I thought it was crazy that such a comprehensive resource was published each morning, five days a week. Less than a year later, it became my job to put Headlines together every day.

A substantial project to deliver over 1,000 miles of fiber internet has concluded. 123NET, a Michigan-based provider of fiber internet, colocation, and voice services, announced it completed the Allegan County broadband expansion project.

Industry groups USTelecom and NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association are backing a request from fiber operator Lumos for the Federal Communications Commission to override some permitting fees and requirements imposed by Stark and Mahoning counties in Ohio. But the County Engineers Association of Ohio is urging the FCC to exercise caution in its decision-making, while the counties themselves argue that Lumos' claims misrepresent the situation.

The affordability of key services such as home broadband is front and center for citizens and policymakers alike. For broadband, a number of points are important to keep in mind when thinking about service affordability:

The California Public Utilities Commission approved nearly $32 million in California Advanced Services Fund grants to expand high-speed internet access, bring free broadband to affordable housing residents, and help thousands of Californians gain the digital skills needed to participate in today’s online world. The CPUC approved up to $24 million in CASF Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account funding for three Frontier California Inc. fiber projects currently serving 590 unserved homes in Fresno, Merced, Plumas, and Tulare counties. The projects include:

At a new library outside Denver, you can get a book, a pair of snowshoes—and a trail to use them on.

Today’s blog is a tale of two counties that were successful in attracting broadband grant investments and now want to pivot to making sure that residents are able to take advantage of the newly constructed fiber networks. Both counties are encountering an unexpected roadblock. Both counties that did things the right way. Both counties put a lot of effort into attracting better broadband. They funded major feasibility studies.

The California Public Utilities Commission approved more than $74 million in California Advanced Services Fund grants to expand high-speed broadband infrastructure in underserved communities across California. The CPUC approved three CASF Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account resolutions totaling up to $74,095,939. The approved projects include:

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced the counties in which conditional forbearance from the obligation to offer Lifeline-supported voice service applies, pursuant to the Commission’s 2016 Lifeline Order. This forbearance applies only to the Lifeline voice obligation of eligible telecommunications carriers that are designated for purposes of receiving both high-cost and Lifeline support, and not to Lifeline-only ETCs. The Appendix lists the counties where the Commission’s conditional forbearance from high-cost/Lifeline ETCs’ Lifeline voice obligation