Local/Municipal

Insights into the state of K-12 education through the lens of education technology leaders—professionals who play a critical role in ensuring technology is safe, reliable, and effective in supporting student learning, teaching, and district operations. 1) Cybersecurity continues to rank as the No. 1 priority for education technology leaders, reflecting the essential role secure digital systems play in modern education. Most districts are actively investing in monitoring, detection, identity protection, and firewall technologies to safeguard networks, data, and learning continuity.

There is currently a bill being considered in Congress that would mandate a new set of permitting requirements for wireless and wired infrastructure. The bill is H.R. 2289–the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2025. The bill first started with the goal of making it easier to get permits for BEAD and other federally grant-funded projects, but the bill has grown to encompass all local and state permitting for telecommunications infrastructure. The heart of the changes that would come from the passage of the bill are as follows:

Lightcurve, an internet provider in the State of Washington, announced that applications are now open for its Digital Equity Partnership program. Developed in partnership with the City of Tacoma, the initiative provides free internet service to qualifying organizations serving low-income and underserved populations throughout Tacoma and nearby areas. Through the program, Lightcurve is seeking public, private, and nonprofit organizations that provide critical services or access to underserved members of the community.

Truvista Fiber and the City of Commerce (GA) announced an agreement for Truvista to acquire the city’s municipal telecommunications network supporting local businesses.

As part of the American Rescue Plan Act, Congress allocated $350 billion to state, territorial, local, and Tribal governments across the country to support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency. Through the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program, over 30,000 recipient governments across the country invested funds to address their unique needs, including broadband infrastructure.

Most of the national conversation about artificial intelligence and jobs is dominated by fear. The debate focuses on which occupations might disappear, which workers could be displaced and which communities risk falling further behind. This pessimism is taking a toll: According to a recent Gallup poll, U.S. workers’ job market optimism dropped sharply to 28 percent in late 2025, down from 46 percent at the same point in 2024. But fear is obscuring opportunity.

One of the most frustrating aspects of grant-funded projects for the public is that it takes years from the announcement that their neighborhood is covered by a grant until they see the new infrastructure.

The broadband industry may soon cheer if Congress legislates permitting reform. The industry has long complained that permitting processes across a multitude of federal, state, and local jurisdictions are incredibly cumbersome. Now, Congress may act to streamline all of that. However, a host of local organizations are vehemently opposed to the federal government steamrolling over their municipal rules and regulations. Congress considered multiple proposed bills to address broadband permitting.

There has been a lot of talk over the last year at the state and national level about lowering the regulatory and paperwork barriers for internet service providers (ISPs) building rural networks funded by Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants. I don’t know any rural ISP that doesn’t think this is a good idea. Any efforts that can simplify processes like permitting, pole attachments, and environmental studies would be a big benefit for a rural construction effort. There is another situation that probably warrants easier and simpler paperwork.

Flagstaff (AZ) tells the story of how one city turned a broadband gap into a model for municipal fiber deployment. Long underserved by incumbent providers, Flagstaff recognized that reliable, high-speed connectivity was essential not just for city operations, but for the economic future of the broader region—enabling remote work, telemedicine, education, and business growth across rural northern Arizona.