Universal Broadband

Private wireless networks are poised to play an important role on the nation’s farms, potentially creating opportunities for rural network operators. A deal between computing provider Trilogy Networks and Inland Cellular aims to provide farm-wide coverage and address connectivity as an obstacle to the adoption of precision agriculture. It calls for Inland Cellular to offer private wireless to farms in its service area in the northwestern US to blanket the farm with wireless coverage.

With the release of a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), the US Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) has made important changes for Round 3 of its ReConnect Program. RUS has included a preference for local governments, non-profits, and cooperatives as applicants and added additional points to those applications. Further, RUS is expanding eligible areas beyond the FCC’s 25/3 definition of broadband.

Located on the shores of Lake Erie, Cleveland suffers from the highest rates of child poverty and the lowest rates of broadband access among the large cities in the United States.

When colleges in the California State University system sent students home from campus in spring 2020, it quickly became clear that some students lacked reliable access to the internet or computers through which to participate in their pandemic-era emergency remote courses. Institutions did what they could to help in the moment, trying “band-aid remedies” such as loaning out laptops or expanding Wi-Fi service into parking lots, says Mike Uhlenkamp, senior director of public affairs for the system.

Austin (TX) for years has been one of the nation's most desirable tech hubs. Yet despite this, some of Austin's most vulnerable populations still lack digital literacy, internet access and digital exposure. City officials said the demand for digital devices in Austin continues to surpass the number of devices available. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic and natural disasters such as the February freeze, which caused widespread power outages across the state, have exposed digital access gaps in the Austin area.

President Biden has finally made his critical telecommunications appointments to fill out the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA). As expected, Biden named Acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel to serve as full chair and renominated her to fill her expired term. As hoped, he also nominated my former boss and all-around Telecom Boss Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] to be the third FCC Commissioner.

Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Office of Broadband announced a new interactive Connect Illinois Broadband Map and the creation of the Illinois Broadband Lab, a collaborative effort by the State of Illinois, university partners including the University of Illinois System and Illinois Innovation Network, and key stakeholders including the Illinois-based Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.

Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote a response to US lawmakers' letter regarding the FCC's collection of broadband deployment data. The group of lawmakers wrote to Rosenworcel in July 2021 requesting an update on the FCC's broadband data collection progress.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that it has received requests for nearly $1.3 billion in the second application filing window of the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund Program to fund nearly 2.4 million connected devices and over 564,000 broadband connections. The FCC also committed an additional $269 million to fund connected devices and broadband connections requested in the first application filing window.

Amid significant poverty and a lack of robust infrastructure, 40 percent of Detroit residents struggle to access reliable broadband service. Fortunately, organizations like the Detroit Community Technology Project (DCTP) exist to challenge the status quo.