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Minnesota’s Paul Bunyan Communications Shares $3.6 Million Windfall With Members

By

on Sep 30, 2025

The telephone cooperative-owned Paul Bunyan Communications in Northern Minnesota recently announced it was giving a $3.6 million profit windfall back to local community members.

An African American woman wearing a denim outfit holds a card in her hand that reads: trust is a must for us

Countdown to Next Building for Digital Equity Event: Moving at the Speed of Trust

By

Sean Gonsalves

on Sep 24, 2025

Slated for October 1 at 3 pm EST, the next B4DE virtual gathering will spotlight local strategies for digital equity and explore why it’s necessary for frontline digital inclusion practitioners to be “Moving at the Speed of Trust.”

CPUC office building with state seal above doorway

California Regulators To Include Broadband Affordability Requirements In Verizon Frontier Merger Approval

By

Karl Bode

on Sep 18, 2025

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is poised to include new broadband affordability requirements as part of the state’s looming approval of Verizon’s massive $20 billion merger with Frontier Communications, even as some consumer advocacy groups worry the changes may not go quite far enough to hold Verizon accountable.

Side of school bus with stop sign affixed to side of bus

Trump FCC Kills Popular Program That Brought Free Wi-Fi To Low Income School Kids

By

Karl Bode

on Oct 2, 2025

The Trump FCC has voted to kill two different programs that helped bring free Wi-Fi to school kids in underserved poor and rural U.S. communities.

Latest Podcast

Don’t Break the Internet - Episode 662 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast

Mike Masnick of Techdirt joins us to unpack the myths around Section 230, how reform efforts could backfire, and why protecting free speech online requires more nuance than most policymakers are willing to give.

B4DE: Moving At The Speed of Trust Reprise

By

Sean Gonsalves

on Oct 2, 2025

The third Building for Digital Equity livestream of the year brought together policy experts and frontline workers to explore how community-driven connectivity solutions are inextricably tied to building local trust. If you missed it, the entirety of the event can be viewed here.

Sertex Will Build Lion’s Share Of Maine’s Massive Middle Mile Network

By

Karl Bode

on Oct 1, 2025

The Maine Connectivity Authority has chosen Sertex Broadband Solutions to help build and manage a massive portion of the state’s 536-mile middle mile fiber network known as MOOSE Net.

Wisconsin Public Radio Covers New City-Owned Broadband Network in Superior with Assist from ILSR

By

Sean Gonsalves

on Sep 30, 2025

ILSR's Christopher Mitchell offers insights on Superior, Wisconsin's new city-owned network and how federal policy, municipal broadband barriers and Tribal networks fit into the picture.

Connect This! Show

Big Apple Connect, Pole Attachments, and DEA Lawsuits | Episode 122 of the Connect This! Show

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (Tak Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Angela Siefer to talk about the continued decline of linear cable, free public housing broadband in New York, SpaceX's foreign investors, a pole attachment database in West Virginia, and NDIA suing the Trump Administration. Join us live on October 10th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts.

Recent Broadband News | Episode 123 of the Connect This! Show

Next show: October 24th at 2pm ET.

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Reports

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.

Shopping for Broadband: Failed Federal Policy Creates Murky Marketplace

By Emma Gautier on Nov 11, 2021

A new report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) examines Internet Service Providers’ (ISPs) transparency — or lack thereof — around the Internet service packages they offer. Shopping for Broadband: Failed Federal Policy Creates Murky Marketplace finds that locally-controlled broadband networks are the most transparent around key service details. Large ISPs, on the other hand, are more likely to make information like upload speed and pricing difficult or impossible to find.

Six Community Broadband Networks Demonstrate Diversity of Approaches to Connectivity Challenges

By Sean Gonsalves on Jul 26, 2021

There are more than 600 wireline municipal broadband networks operating across the United States today. And while the ongoing discussion about our information infrastructure by Congress has placed a renewed emphasis on publicly owned endeavors to improving Internet access, the reality is that cities around the country have been successfully demonstrating the wide variety of successful approaches for decades.

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