StateScoop - September 6, 2017

Get your applications ready! The United States Department of Agriculture  Rural Utilities Service (USDA RUS) is accepting applications for another round of loans for the Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program.

When it comes to rural areas, it’s no secret that national providers have little interest in serving the sparsely populated communities. Cooperatives and small local providers typically pick up the slack but it isn’t easy. In a recent survey indicated that small rural telephone companies are overcoming hurdles to deploy fiber and making long-term plans to continue the trend.

Alaska

A fight for Internet access is brewing in Alaska by Sydney Johnson, EdSurge

Colorado

It’s been almost two years since 82 percent of Loveland voters chose to opt out of Colorado’s restrictive SB 152.

Large, corporate providers like AT&T have to make shareholders happy, which is why they shy way from investing in regions where they don’t expect much profit. Routinely, those areas include sparsely populated rural communities and urban neighborhoods traditionally considered low-income.

Not-for-profit Southern Tier Network (STN) is already providing infrastructure for local ISP Empire Access to compete with incumbents in some areas of south central New York state.

Residents and businesses of Islesboro, Maine, are waiting eagerly to connect to their new Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) network this fall. Recently, the community finalized an important step when it signed an agreement with Central Maine Power Company (CMP).

One Piece Of A Larger Plan

Several communities in Kentucky have been managing publicly owned Internet networks for decades, including Barbourville and Frankfort. Residents and businesses depend on their great customer service and quality Internet access. Like everything else, however, telecommunications infrastructure ages and now both communities are considering how to upgrade.

Louisville has overcome a tall hurdle in its efforts to bring better connectivity and more competition to the community through local control. On August 16th the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky supported the city’s one touch make ready (OTMR) ordinance. AT&T challenged the ordinance in court, but their arguments fell flat and the court confirmed that the city has the authority to manage its rights-of-way with OTMR.

California

Don't leave rural California behind by Bob Williams, California Forward

The lakes and woods of northern Minnesota are home to high-speed Internet service. Paul Bunyan Communications Cooperative has developed a 5,000 square mile GigaZone service area, where it offers symmetrical speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second (1,000 Mbps) to homes and businesses.