Infrastructure

Construction of apartments in large, multiple-dwelling-unit (MDU) buildings by nongovernmental builders could set another record this year. Builders received more than 18,000 permits for MDUs with five dwelling units or more in 2021. The properties would contain 552,000 dwelling units, up from 532,000 in 2020.

Multifamily property owners want to make broadband an amenity available to residents as part of their rental agreements. They’re working hard to enter into bulk service agreements with service providers. Commonplace for cable television, these deals are between a homeowners association or condominium association and a company to deliver internet services to everyone who is a community member. Bulk internet services provide several benefits for multifamily owners/operators and residents:

From the start, Google Fiber was designed to bring you Internet - fiber optic Internet.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released preliminary data that shows over 235 applications were submitted totaling more than $5.5 billion in funding requests for the Enabling Middle Mile Infrastructure Grant Program. Included in President Biden’s “Internet for All” initiative, the Middle Mile grant program provides $1 billion in funding to projects that connect high-speed Internet networks to each other and reduce the cost of bringing Internet service to communities that lack it. Applications for the Middle Mile program were due

After Elon Musk said his Starlink satellite-internet system was activated in Iran on Sept. 23, two men climbed onto the tiled roof of a residence in the Iranian city of Ahvaz and aimed a Starlink terminal into the sky. A faint signal was detected by the device for several seconds, then it disappeared. The men were seeking to help an Iranian protest movement struggling under a government crackdown on online communication, said Saeed Souzangar, a network engineer and one of the Iranian men.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) wants to let broadband grant winners from two key programs sidestep “Buy American” requirements currently tied to the money. In proposals submitted to the US Department of Commerce, the NTIA sought waivers for its $1 billion Middle Mile grant and $268 million Connecting Minority Communities Pilot programs.

Wireline operators are battling to bring residents in Florida back online as quickly as possible in the wake of Hurricane Ian, but conditions on the ground are making it hard to get to all the sites in need of repair. According to Federal Communications Commission data, the storm knocked out wireline service for nearly 526,000 people after it made landfall on September 28.

New state data shows 2.5 percent of New York households lack the ability to hook up to the Internet. More than 132,000 households lack the ability to access broadband in New York. The town of Red House in Cattaraugus County is completely unserved. Twenty-nine towns, six school districts and four of the 10 tribal territories in the state have less than half of their residences with access to broadband. Internet providers warn that government broadband grants may not be able to cover the costs of building the services in locations where there may be fewer than five homes per square mile.

House Commerce Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) sent a letter to National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Alan Davidson urging NTIA to address burdensome permitting processes and other regulatory red tape that may impede the success of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program that was created under the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act. To prevent slow deployment and the determent of investment, the Members urged the agency to require eligible states and territories to work with t

Now that the federal government included billions of tax dollars in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to improve internet access to more areas, the task of broadband mapping in Illinois is underway.