Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
Thousands in Colorado seek funding to receive broadband internet
Thousands of rural Coloradans could be one step closer to gaining access to high-speed internet thanks to federal funding for broadband expansion throughout the country.
ARC Awards $6.3 Million to Bolster Broadband Access Across 50 Communities in Every Appalachian Subregion
The Appalachian Regional Commission awarded $6.3 million through its new Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE) funding opportunity to Connect Humanity for a project that will help 50 underserved communities in every subregion of Appalachia plan for broadband access and growth. Working with local
Do the state challenges to the FCC maps really matter for BEAD?
As the January 13 deadline looms for states to challenge the current Federal Communications Commission broadband coverage map, many states are asking for more time. I'm starting to wonder, however, whether more time is actually all that important. The FCC process is NOT building a location-level map of actual delivered broadband speeds, but rather a map of the performance that providers say they can deliver if a customer requests it. So let's try to put all of this together and see what it means. For me, a few key takeaways stand out (All of this is not to say that state efforts to understa
The Oregon Broadband Office Must Continue to Take Aggressive Steps to Close the Digital Divide and Fully Meet its Statutory Duties
An audit of the Oregon Broadband Office by Secretary of State Shemia Fagan (D-OR) found the office will likely be prepared to receive and facilitate upcoming federal infrastructure grant awards.
Running Fiber-Optic Cable to Rural Communities Is Part of Maine’s Ambitious Broadband Plan
Governor Janet Mills (D-ME) has pledged that everyone in the state who wants high-speed internet will be able to get it by the end of 2024. Laying fiber cable to remote regions is the first phase of making good on that promise. Maine’s 2020 Broadband Plan estimated the total cost to build out 17,502 miles of fiber-optic or coax cable to currently unserved areas would be at least $600 million.
As Infrastructure Money Lands, the Job Dividends Begin
There's a wave of jobs that will result from $1.2 trillion in direct government spending from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Biden Broadband Billions Likely in House GOP's Oversight Sights
With Rep Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) finally getting enough votes to be elected Speaker of the House and that body cleared for the takeoff of Republican committee leadership, look for that leadership to launch Federal Communications Commission and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) oversight hearings.
Blair Levin on why the USF is a ticking time bomb
The year 2023 could prove to be a volatile year for the Federal Communications Commission as it wrestles with a number of lawsuits concerning its Universal Service Fund (USF) program.
Will the FCC Maps Get Better?
It is unfortunate timing that the new Federal Communications Commission broadband map was issued in the middle of the process of trying to determine the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant funding. Congress said that the amount of funding that will go to each state must be based upon the FCC map – and the first draft is clearly flawed. However, assuming that that grant funding question gets resolved somehow, there remains the bigger issue of whether the new FCC map will ever accurately portray broadband availability.
Nevada Asks FCC to Reconsider ‘Deeply Flawed’ Broadband Maps
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NM) and Jacky Rosen (D-NM) sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission asking the body to reconsider maps drafted for the Silver State's broadband Internet connectivity, calling the drafts "deeply flawed" and warning that such maps could perpetuate the digital divide among the state's urban and rural areas.