Universal Broadband

AT&T sees opportunities to apply for funding in the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program in Texas and some other states, but likely will not apply for funding in many others, said the company’s CEO John Stankey. Noting that each state will set up its own rules for the program, Stankey said, “I point to a state like Texas. Policy-wise, they had a pretty sound approach to things. . .

The Internet powers education and the economy, supports our health and well-being, and connects us to our neighbors and those we love. Four agencies are leading the historic effort to connect the entire nation and provide Internet for All. This case study captures insights from the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). NTIA knows that meaningfully connecting everyone in America requires more than Internet access alone.

“We’re set up to attract, expand, and create new businesses and job opportunities while at the same time be unimpeded by government red tape and mandates,” said Sandip Bhowmick, state broadband director and vice president of infrastructure at Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA). Arizona’s broadband office is housed within the ACA, a unique government organization overseen by a public-private board of directors and chaired by the Arizona governor.

There is an interesting discussion that has been percolating in the industry for many years. Many wireless ISPs have extolled the benefits of building wireless networks as the first step to eventually build fiber networks. For over a decade, I’ve been a big proponent of this business plan and have worked with many rural internet service providers who entered new rural markets with wireless with the hope of eventually building fiber in the same areas.

Spectrum announced the launch of Spectrum Internet, Mobile, TV and Voice services to more than 1,900 homes and small businesses in Cullman County, Alabama. Spectrum’s newly constructed fiber-optic network buildout is part of the company’s approximately $5 billion RDOF-related investment in unserved rural communities, partly offset by $1.2 billion in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) RDOF auction. The company’s RDOF expansion will provide broadband access to 1.3 million customer locations across 24 states in the coming years.

A look at each state’s response to the National Technology and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program Notice of Funding Opportunity’s (NOFO) Requirement 20 on Middle-Class Affordability and Requirement 16 for a Low-Cost Broadband Service Option.  This list also provides background information on the degree of participation in BEAD by municipal, tribal, and other government-owned networks (GONs) in each state. Thirteen states have affordability strate

The fiber broadband industry is experiencing a historic moment.

ACA Connects, in partnership with Cartesian, announced the release of “BEAD Program: A Framework to Allocate Funding for Broadband Availability – Version 4.0.” This newest version, using data from the latest National Broadband Map, estimates that when States and Territories begin to select broadband deployment projects, 6.4 million unserved and underserved locations will be eligible for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding and that the program should be able to

President Joe Biden announced that the U.S.

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition along with the Open Technology Institute at New America (OTI), filed comments responding to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in support of E-Rate support for off-campus internet access. The NPRM proposes to allow schools and libraries to apply for funding from the FCC’s E-Rate program for Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless internet access services to be used by students and library patrons in need.