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IN OUR VIEW: Statement on Federal Court Decision to Reinstate Digital Equity Act Grant Funding

on Jul 16, 2026

Christopher Mitchell, Director of the Community Broadband Networks initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), issues statement in response to yesterday’s federal court ruling that Digital Equity Act programs should resume.

AT&T vs California: The Life-and-Death Battle Over Landline Service

Karl Bode

on Jul 15, 2026

California residents are engaged in a protracted, ugly battle with telecom giant AT&T over their ability to receive life-saving communications during an emergency.

The front entrance of the California Public Utilities Commission building

California Greenlights Another $18.2 Million For Affordable Broadband

Karl Bode

on Jul 13, 2026

California and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) continue to heavily invest in state efforts to expand affordable Internet access, and bolster digital equity, inclusion, and education programs to ensure freshly-connected communities are able to make the most of it.

Three DigitalC workers stand outside their parked work van smiling

Broadband Communities Names Its 2026 Provider of the Year Shortlist — and It's Not the Usual Suspects

Sean Gonsalves

on Jul 22, 2026

Eight community and independently-owned networks are in the running for this year’s Broadband Provider of the Year Award.

Dialing Back Protections: The Battle for California's Lifelines - Episode 18 of Unbuffered

What happens when telecom companies are allowed to walk away from providing basic, reliable phone service? Chris, Harold, and Arturo explore AT&T’s push to end its landline commitments in California and why network modernization shouldn't leave vulnerable communities behind

Oregon Picks New BEAD Winners After Four Bidders Retreat

Karl Bode

on Jul 27, 2026

The Oregon Broadband Office has announced the preliminary awardees selected to assume BEAD projects that were voluntarily declined by their original awardees. The new awardees include a municipal broadband provider and an electric cooperative.

Indiana Awards $250,000 In New Internet Access Grants

Karl Bode

on Jul 20, 2026

While the grant amounts are relatively small, they’re a big deal to the small independent providers and member-owned cooperatives who received them.

An orange sign on side of rural road reads: "Slow Down"

Rural Cooperatives Frustrated With NTIA BEAD Changes

Karl Bode

on Jul 6, 2026

Earlier this month rural electric and broadband cooperatives gathered in Washington, DC, for their fifth-annual Broadband Leadership Summit. The topic du jour was broadly unpopular changes made by the NTIA to the Broadband, Equity, Deployment, and Access program (BEAD) created by the 2021 infrastructure bill.

Latest Stories

Speeds Up, Prices Steady (or Down!) With EC Fiber

By on Feb 5, 2016

The East-Central Vermont Community Fiber-Optic Network (EC Fiber) recently announced plans to increase speeds across tiers with no increase in prices.

Changes will look like this:

Fiber-to-the-Home May Be the Cherry on Top in Traverse City

By on Feb 4, 2016

In Traverse City, Michigan, big plans are underway. The local electric utility is considering constructing a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network for next-generation high-speed Internet access.

Mr. and Mrs. Monopoly Seek Treatment with Competify

By on Feb 3, 2016

Check out this new video from the Competify coalition. The short 2-minute feature introduces viewers to Mr. and Mrs. Broadband Monopoly, who are clearly suffering from "chronic broadband access control."

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Broadband Monopoly

St. Louis Park And Developers Ready The Wires

By on Feb 3, 2016

Community leaders in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, are taking advantage of growth in apartment and condominium developments to "till the soil" for better residential connectivity. One of the smartest things a community can do to improve connectivity is prepare an environment that encourages high-speed connectivity infrastructure investment.

Holding Their Breath in Bradley

By on Feb 2, 2016

Cleveland Utilities (CU), serving Bradley County, is carefully searching for the best way to improve connectivity for its southeast Tennessee customers. After exploring a number of possibilities, CU sees a partnership with Chattanooga's EPB as the brightest opportunity but their collaboration rests on lawmakers in Nashville or the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Local Media Loves Opelika Gigabit Fiber Network

By on Feb 2, 2016

We love when community networks are celebrated for their accomplishments and potential. Opelika, Alabama, started to build a network in 2010, and now local news proudly showcases the community as a Gig City.

Community Broadband Media Roundup - February 1

By on Feb 1, 2016

Iowa

Mediacom sues to stop Iowa City municipal fiber build by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

Kentucky

Seniors, Low-Income, Disabled Communities Pay the Price in St. Paul

By on Feb 1, 2016

For seniors, low-income residents, and the disabled in Saint Paul, Minnesota, a Comcast discount within the city's franchise agreement is not all it was cracked up to be.

#RightToConnect Twitter Town Hall Archive Now Available

By on Jan 31, 2016

If you were not able to attend the #RightToConnect Twitter Town Hall on January 21st, you are in luck. The good folks at the Center for Media Justice campaign have collected some of the most memorable moments at Storify.

Steamboat Springs Gets a Grant for Fiber for the Future

By on Jan 29, 2016

Last we checked in with Steamboat Springs they had just finished a connectivity project. Now the community is taking another step to improve local connectivity in this northwest Colorado ski resort town.

Solon Set to Save in Ohio: Big Plans for I-Net

By on Jan 28, 2016

Solon, located in Ohio's northeast corner, is looking to save approximately $65,280 per year with a publicly owned fiber institutional network (I-Net).

Missouri Legislature Off to Another Anti-Muni Session: Pick Up Your Phone and Call!

By on Jan 27, 2016

If you pay attention to state laws affecting municipal networks in Missouri, you are experiencing an unsettling feeling of deja vu right now.

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Reports

Abundant Home Broadband for All Californians: A Pathway to Digital Prosperity

Broadband ISPs should be held to a higher public interest standard and regulated like traditional utilities in California, a new joint study by nonprofit state policy news outlet Cal Matters and UC Berkeley’s Possibility Lab argues. State governments should also vocally support community broadband networks as a direct challenge to monopoly power, the authors state.

Seeking the Commonwealth of Connection: How Small-Town Volunteers and Public Partnerships Transformed Internet Access in Western Massachusetts

By Jessica Auer

Between 2018 and 2022, 19 very small towns in Western Massachusetts built fiber-to-the-home (ftth) networks and transformed their telecommunications future forever. The special nature of that change comes in no small part because of the public partnerships that have been established, both among themselves and with neighboring community Westfield - itself a municipal provider.

To Improve Broadband Deployment, Enhanced Data Collection Is Key

A new report from Pew Research Center provides a review of available federal sources of broadband data and gaps and issues with those data. Within the report, Pew also examines the implications of these gaps on public policy and offers potential solutions to address them.

New Ideas in Competition Policy

By Ry Marcattilio

A new report out from Vanderbilt University's Policy Accelerator re-emphasizes some of the important steps federal government agencies could take to make sure that upcoming Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding is used as efficiently and equitably as possible.

Native Nations and Federal Telecom Policy Failures: Lessons from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

By Jessica Auer on Aug 5, 2024

A new report published today by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) reveals how the sovereignty of Tribal Nations and their own efforts to solve connectivity challenges on Tribal lands can be undermined by the poor design and maze of bureaucracy associated with some federal broadband programs. Even as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration takes over administration of the largest federal funding programs and re-situates Tribal closer to where they belong, the FCC continues its long-standing practice of scant engagement and infrequent consultation, complicating the terrain and stymieing Tribal efforts to close the digital divide in Indian Country.

Neighborly Networks: Vermont's Approach to Community Broadband

By Ry Marcattilio on Jun 4, 2024

In partnership with the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, today ILSR releases a new report examining how the state of Vermont is supercharging its telecommunications infrastructure efforts to reach the unconnected by investing in community broadband-driven efforts. Today, there are ten CUDs covering 216 towns across the state, and Vermont’s leaders have put the lion’s share of public funds behind the communications union district model.

Increased Wellness and Economic Return of Universal Broadband Infrastructure: A Telehealth Case Study of Ten Southern Rural Counties

By Ry Marcattilio on Apr 26, 2023

In a new report, published in partnership with the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative (SRBWI), the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative examines the link between high-speed Internet infrastructure, access to healthcare, and the economic implications involved. It shows the even small communities that commit to universal, affordable, reliable service can avoid millions in healthcare costs, recouping financing in short order and leading to healthier populations.

The Problem(s) of Broadband in America

By Sean Gonsalves on Jul 7, 2021

In a new policy brief, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance looks to provide clarity for policy-makers by exploring the real challenges of America’s connectivity crisis. The brief aims to clear up a common misunderstanding of exactly where the digital divide is located.