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The USF Survives Supreme Court, But Massive Challenges Remain
The FCC’s Universal Service Fund has survived a Supreme Court challenge by a right wing activist nonprofit, but the program – which for decades has helped extend broadband to underserved rural homes and schools – still faces a precarious immediate future. It is a peculiar political story, given that the rural regions that overwhelmingly vote for Republicans are now seeing Republicans try to dismantle a program that has been crucial for rural investment and development.
In ProMarket: A Wave of Telecom Mergers
ILSR publishes new piece in ProMarket on the continuing consolidation of telecommunication markets and why municipal broadband is a better option.
“Wired for Freedom” Livestream Replay
If you missed our Building for Digital Equity “Wired for Freedom” Livestream, you can watch it in its entirety here. The second UTOPIA Fiber-sponsored event of the year, hosted in partnership with the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), brought together community-based digital inclusion practitioners and policy experts to talk about the road ahead for expanding broadband access amid a rapidly shifting political landscape.
California’s Affordable Broadband Bill At Risk Of Being Destroyed By Lobbying
California lawmakers’ efforts to pass a new law mandating affordable broadband access is at risk of being destroyed by industry lobbying. California insiders say the changes are so dramatic they may wind up making broadband affordability in the state worse – undermining years of digital equity activism and discarding a rare opportunity to bridge the digital divide.
Event: Building For Digital Equity - Wired for Freedom
On Tuesday, July 1, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and National Digital Inclusion Alliance will present the next Building For Digital Equity event - Wired For Freedom: Digital Access and the American Dream. It will run from 3:00 - 4:15 ET.
Mecklenburg Co-Op Celebrates 7,500 Fiber Customer Milestone
Empower Broadband, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Virginia-based Mecklenburg Electrical Cooperative, says it has successfully deployed affordable fiber access to more than 7,500 subscribers across long-neglected and underserved portions of the Old Dominion state. Like many cooperatives, Mecklenburg and Empower are leveraging generations-old experiences at rural electrification to migrate into the broadband business.
Driving Towards Better Broadband, Maine Buckles Up For Difficult Road Ahead
Maine Connectivity Authority President Andrew Butcher leads five-day “Driving Connections” tour to highlight broadband infrastructure investments the state has made to bring high-speed Internet access to 86,000 homes and businesses over the past several years and rally support for future work. The first stop on the tour is today, at the Woodstock Library, where Butcher and his team will meet with the town’s librarian, the town manager, and a digital navigator to hear how the state broadband office can continue to support community-based digital inclusion work in western Maine.
Baltimore Issues RFP For Plan To Expand Affordable Broadband
Baltimore city leaders have issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a partner willing to help the city’s ongoing efforts to expand affordable broadband access to marginalized city residents. According to the RFP, the city’s latest efforts would help bring affordable, high-speed Internet to over 4,100 new housing units spread across eight different public housing communities.
Monahans, Texas Builds Its Own ‘Labor Of Love’ Fiber Network
The remote West Texas city of Monahans has spent the last decade taking matters into their own hands and now the city’s 7,500 residents are headed for the right side of the digital divide. The city’s network build is in partnership with Hosted America, which is acting as the first last mile ISP serving residents.
Clallam County, WA Launches $22 Million Fiber Expansion Plan
Clallam County, Washington and Astound Broadband have begun construction on a major new joint partnership that will bring affordable fiber access to more than 1,500 homes across the largely rural Northwestern part of The Evergreen State. The deployment is a joint collaboration between The Public Utility District (PUD) No. 1 of Clallam County, Astound Broadband, and the Northwest Open Access Network (NOANet), a nonprofit coalition developed by regional Washington Communications Utility Districts (CUD) to bring more reliable, affordable fiber access to neglected rural Washington communities.
Trump Administration Imposed BEAD Changes Introduce Significant New Delays
Trump administration changes to the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant program are poised to introduce years of potential new delays to the already slow-moving program, potentially undermining the program’s goal of bringing universal broadband access to mostly rural communities. Worse, the looming changes would eliminate efforts to ensure taxpayer-funded broadband is affordable for low-income Americans, while driving billions in new subsidies to the world’s richest man and Trump mega donor Elon Musk.
Oakland Unveils Ambitious Plan to Build City-Owned Open Access Network
The OaklandConnect project – unanimously approved on May 20 by the Oakland City Council – calls for the construction of a city-owned open access fiber network to expand affordable broadband connectivity to over 33,000 households that city surveys indicate are languishing without home Internet service. Once the East Bay city of 436,000 completes network construction, it would be one of the largest publicly-owned open access networks serving a major metro area in the nation – and may serve as inspiration for other large cities to follow suit with a model that’s been proven to bring affordable local Internet choice in monopoly-dominated markets.