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Pushback Mounts Over Trump Administration ‘Termination’ of Digital Equity Law
The Trump administration’s dismantling of a popular broadband grant program has been greeted with disgust and anger by those working to bridge the digital divide, leaving many states' planned broadband expansions in limbo, and affordable broadband advocates contemplating potential legal action. The unprecedented choice to destroy digital skills training and broadband adoption programs created by an act of Congress is seeing escalating pushback by a growing coalition of frustrated lawmakers and state broadband offices.
Longmont NextLight’s Affordability Program Picks Up Federal Slack For Low Income Locals
NextLight's locally-funded Internet Assistance Program is currently helping 14 percent more city subscribers than the federal Affordable Connectivity Program did at its peak. At the time the ACP was discontinued, 906 NextLight customers were receiving the federal discount. As of April 2025, NextLight’s own assistance program is helping 1,034 customers – a 14 percent increase in one year.
Crews Begin Work On Ft. Bragg, California’s Long-Awaited Muni-Fiber Network
Construction crews have begun work on Fort Bragg’s long-awaited municipal fiber network, which will ultimately bring affordable fiber to the California city of 7,000. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $17 million. Of that, $10 million will be paid for by a Federal Funding Account (FFA) grant from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
New Resource: Community Networks in California’s Federal Funding Account Broadband Grant Program
Today we are releasing a new two-part dashboard based on California Public Utilities Commission data that helps visualize the success of community-based broadband projects under the state's transformative The Last-Mile Federal Funding Account program. The map visualizes the relative size of grant amounts per county and the percentage of those grants that went to community networks, in which we group municipal or other public entities, Tribal governments, cooperatives, and nonprofits.
Grays Harbor PUD Gets To Work On Western WA Fiber Expansion
Grays Harbor PUD says it’s getting to work leveraging a $7 million grant from the Washington State Broadband Office to expand affordable fiber access in the South Elma, Porter, and Cedarville areas of the Evergreen State. Grays Harbor PUD was one of 16 Washington utilities chosen by the Washington State Broadband Office to receive grant funding during awards first announced back in 2023.
Digital Inclusion Leaders Brace for Impact
Digital inclusion organizations are reeling after the Trump administration announced the Digital Equity Act, embedded in the bipartisan infrastructure law, was being cancelled months after federal grants had already been reviewed and awarded. As news began to trickle out, many of those working on these issues across the nation had more questions than answers as they scrambled to process a mix of confusion and frustration, especially mindful of the fact that the Digital Equity Act barely touches on the subject of race.
Timnath, Colorado Lights Up First Fiber Customer
Timnath, Colorado's new municipal network has announced they’ve lit up their very first subscriber in partnership with the city of Loveland’s Pulse Fiber municipal broadband network. Inspired by Pulse, the Town of Timnath entered into an intergovernmental revenue-sharing agreement with Loveland’s ISP in August of 2023. Tinmath receives 25 percent of the network’s gross income, with an expected 2 to 6 percent return on capital investment over 20 to 30 years. The network is expected to be paid off in 25 years.
AAPB and ILSR Prepare For Inaugural ‘Future of Public Broadband’ Conference
Some of the nation’s leading voices, thinkers, and doers in the community broadband sector will connect and collaborate in the nation’s capital for the inaugural "Community First: The Future of Public Broadband Conference and Hill Day" next week. The two-day conference – slated for May 14 and 15 – is being hosted by the American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB) and New America Open Technology Institute (OTI), in partnership with the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, and the Community Broadband Action Network.
Massachusetts Lawmakers Hold Hearing Today on Affordable Broadband Bill
Legislation that would require ISPs operating in Massachusetts to offer qualifying low-income households high-speed Internet service for $15 per month is set to have its first legislative hearing today. The hearing in Massachusetts comes as similar legislation is being considered by state lawmakers in Vermont and California – all three of which are modeled on New York’s Affordable Broadband Act.
Baltimore Close To Issuing RFP For Major Fiber Expansion
The City of Baltimore is making steady progress with several grant-fueled initiatives to deliver fiber and wireless to city apartment complexes to further expand affordable access. The city is putting the finishing touches on a Request for Proposal (RFP) to strike a new public-private-partnership with an as-yet-unselected broadband provider.
States Moving Ahead With BEAD Processes
States are moving ahead with their Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program processes after the Commerce Department extended for 90 days the deadlines for final spending plans. The Trump administration last week gave all states a 90-day extension on their deadlines to submit their lists of selected projects for approval, documents that were originally due one year after a state’s initial BEAD implementation proposal was given the federal green light.
Vermont’s Otter Creek CUD Finishes Fiber Expansion, Focuses On Customer Service
Vermont’s Otter Creek Communications Utility District (CUD) says it has completed its ambitious fiber deployment, bringing affordable access to more than 6,000 homes and businesses in the Rutland County region of the Green Mountain State. Otter Creek CUD leveraged grant funding to form a public-private partnership with Consolidated Communications.