News

Elon Musk’s Starlink is making new demands of states with an eye on eroding accountability and oversight, reheating concerns about whether spending big money on the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network is the best possible use of taxpayer resources. Last week, Broadband.io and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society obtained a copy of a letter Starlink parent company SpaceX sent to individual states, demanding freedom from state oversight and monitoring should they bungle installs or fail to deliver acceptable bandwidth.

New Mexico’s Office of Broadband Access and Expansion has announced the completion of a landmark broadband infrastructure expansion project that delivered affordable next-gen broadband access to dozens of long-neglected homes in a remote subdivision in rural Chaves County. The successful completion of the Chaves County project is OBAE’s first grant project to reach 100 percent completion, and the first Connect New Mexico Pilot Program project funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act Capital Projects Fund to reach the final stage.

Two dozen state lawmakers in Maryland have signed on to the Broadband Opportunity and Fairness Act, state legislation that seeks to address broadband affordability. Introduced by Delegate Kris Fair (D-3A, Frederick Co.), the bill now has 25 co-sponsors and is slated for a Feb. 12 legislative hearing before the House Economic Matters Committee. Companion legislation has yet to be filed in the Senate, though Delegate Fair’s office says they are in discussions with state Senators about advancing a bill through that chamber as well.

Vienna, Maine recently launched its own municipal fiber network, finally bringing affordable next-generation broadband access to the small town’s 600 residents. The town’s focus has shifted to demonstrating the value of fast affordable access to remaining locals that regional incumbents are trying to lure away with temporary promotional offers.

This week, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance joined with other public interest groups and Tribal nations to urge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt a Tribal Licensing Window in the upcoming auction of Upper C-Band spectrum.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced a dramatic expansion of the state’s Municipal Infrastructure Program. It will result in an additional $36 million cash infusion for the growing number of creative, community-owned and operated fiber expansion projects in the state, as the existing program has already funded more than $268 million in assorted open access fiber projects across the state.

ILSR publishes new piece in Tribal Business News on how the future of tribal broadband has quietly but fundamentally shifted over the last few months. A recent announcement by the Trump administration upended the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, canceling over $160 million in announced grants and leaving nothing but questions about the hundreds of millions of dollars remaining in the program.

Lamoille FiberNet's $24 million public-private partnership with Fidium Fiber to deliver fiber broadband access to nearly every deliverable address in Lamoille County has been completed. The collaboration resulted in the deployment of 550 miles of fiber, resulting in gigabit-capable next-generation broadband access being made available to 5,000 unserved or underserved addresses across the county.

In 2025, we saw seven new municipal broadband networks across the country that were lit up for service. As is usual, it was a mixture of partnerships, business models, and construction approaches to meet the unique challenges of a patchwork broadband landscape.

Kitsap Public Utility District continues to expand its popular open access fiber network, bringing affordable next-generation broadband access to island locals. An updated KPUD case study indicates that the existing network is currently comprised of more than 900 miles of fiber, with 21 new distribution nodes coming online early 2026. That node expansion is being heavily aided by $6.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

The free event, featuring Keller & Heckman attorneys Sean Stokes and Casey Lide, will focus on the most pressing legal considerations facing community broadband projects, partnerships, and compliance. The discussion will be moderated by Sean Gonsalves of ILSR and Gigi Sohn, executive director of AAPB, who will guide the conversation designed to draw out practical insights for local governments, utilities, cooperatives, and broadband advocates.

The city of Williston, Florida is joining the ranks of municipalities across the nation that are building their own fiber broadband networks with an eye on ubiquitous, affordable access. City leaders say they’re preparing to launch a city-owned $4.6 million fiber optic ISP to break the local telecom monopoly logjam and finally provide fast, affordable access to the local populace.

Alton, Illinois officials say they’ve struck an expanded agreement with AltonWorks, a company built specifically to revitalize the city and deal with residents’ longstanding frustration at the lack of affordable, next-generation broadband access. Altonworks is partnering with i3 Broadband, which broke ground on a new $25 million FiberNet project. FiberNet is projected to reach 94 percent of the city's residents with fiber broadband speeds up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps).

Chicopee Electric Light (CEL) has chosen Sertex Broadband Solutions to help the Massachusetts-based municipal utility expand access to affordable fiber across the city of 55,000.

Two dozen California cities are making progress bringing affordable fiber to 16,500 new locations in the Golden State. The collaborative middle mile project, dubbed the Gateway Cities Council of Governments' (GCCOG) Gateway Cities Fiber Optic Network Project, could revolutionize connectivity for a broad swath of Californians long stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide.

“Digital Equity Unwrapped” – a special livestream bringing together advocates and broadband-for-all leaders who spent 2025 pushing for a more connected and inclusive nation – is slated for next Wednesday, December 17, beginning at 3 pm ET. Attendees will have screen-side seating for a virtual fireside chat with NDIA executive director Angela Siefer and American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB) executive director Gigi Sohn, two leaders who have shaped national conversations around broadband, digital inclusion, and local power.

With nearly $500 million still available in the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, recent announcements from the Trump Administration about how the program will move forward raised more questions than it answered, and only seemed to confirm many of the fears Tribal leaders had about the direction of the program. The announcement raised fears that NTIA may decrease investment in future-proof technologies, throw up hurdles for Tribal nations still wrestling with bad data, force Tribes to accept subpar solutions through the BEAD program, and weaken Tribal consent requirements.

Since 2011, a new study finds that Chattanooga's city-owned fiber network has generated $5.3 billion in net community benefits for Hamilton County. Conducted by researchers at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the study finds that the municipal fiber network has dramatically reshaped the regional economy, supporting 10,420 jobs from 2011 to 2024 – about 31 percent of all net new jobs created locally over the past decade.

A new study shows that the now expired Affordable Connectivity Program helped low-income Americans get better access to jobs, with particularly strong effects for women. The ACP program ended in May 2024 – thanks to GOP Congressional leaders blocking efforts to allocate additional money when the fund was depleted. Still, the study remains relevant as affordability advocates continue to look for ways to fund a similar program in the future.

Traverse City, Michigan’s public, community-owned utility, Traverse City Light and Power (TCL&P), is putting the finishing touches on its $14 million plan to deliver affordable fiber to the community of 15,424. With build out estimates significantly lower than initial projections, the utility is finalizing an additional $1 million in loans to fund the recently started build.