In an effort to facilitate the deployment of innovative broadband solutions in underserved areas - both urban and rural - the nonprofit organization US Ignite recently partnered with National Science Foundation (NSF) and Schmidt Futures to launch ProjectOVERCOME. 

The Benton Institute released a report in November naming the seven communities that the project will focus on: Blue River, OR; Buffalo, NY; Cleveland, OH; Clinton City, MO; Detroit, MI;Loiza, Puerto Rico; and Yonkers, NY.

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In the report that was released, Benton spotlights each community and the technologies they will use. The technologies include Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), fiber, fixed wireless and hotspots. 

According to the initiative's guidelines, these communities were chosen because of how they vary in population, demographics, regions of the country, housing, and industry. The program will work with these communities to experiment in deploying innovative Internet connectivity solutions on a 12-month timeline. 

The projects will collectively result in not only education, outreach, and local broadband organizing development efforts, but provide direct connectivity to more than 700 households.

For example, in a CBRS deployment in New York,

Last fall we wrote about the launch of Project OVERCOME, a grant program "designed to connect the unconnected through novel broadband technology solutions" by soliciting applications from community-based organizations and ultimately award $2.7 million funded through the National Science Foundation and Schmidt Futures (the philanthropic initiative founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt).

Project OVERCOME seeks to "[C]ollect data to measure the technical and social impacts of different connectivity strategies [in order to] discover patterns of success that can be repeated on a larger scale across the country, and to catalog the distinctions that emerge based on variations in the communities served."

Each of the winning projects will serve as an incubator of sorts, deploying proofs of concept with an array of wired and wireless technologies to connect households in 

Winning applications were recently announced for projects in Blue River, Oregon; Detroit, Michigan; Buffalo, New York; Yonkers, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Clinton County, Missouri; and Loiza, Puerto Rico.

US Ignite has announced a new initiative called Project Overcome which will fund five projects looking for novel solutions to broadband connectivity problems in communities around the United States.

Th endeavor, funded by a $2 million National Science Foundation grant, will “support the selection and buildout of five proof-of-concept network deployments designed to connect both rural and urban communities in novel ways.” More than three-quarters of the funding will go directly to project awards, with the aim to:

[C]ollect data to measure the technical and social impacts of different connectivity strategies [in order to] discover patterns of success that can be repeated on a larger scale across the country, and to catalog the distinctions that emerge based on variations in the communities served.

The Application Process

An RFP will come out in the next few weeks, with winners chosen by early spring. From the website, competitive applications will:

Be chosen based on the use of innovative technologies, such as mesh networks and new spectrum access solutions, as well as creative deployment models that leverage both public and private sector partners. Participating teams should draw from some combination of academic, nonprofit, industry, government, student, and volunteer partners. The five proposals ultimately selected will reflect a mix of population density characteristics, demographics, geographic regions, housing types, local and industry collaborations, and technical approaches.

July has seen the release of two complementary reports which shed light on two of the topics we care about a great deal around these parts: availability and affordability of Internet access, and municipally-enabled networks.  

The Open Technology Institute at New America recently released “The Cost of Connectivity 2020” [pdf], which digs into the factors (some of which are explicit and others hidden) dictating how much Americans can expect to spend for Internet access in comparison to Europe, Asia, Canada, and Mexico. They conclude that, compared to the rest of the world, a lack of competition, regulation, and accurate data collection by the FCC has led to higher prices, slower speeds, exorbitant data cap fees, and deep digital divides running between those with high-speed access and those in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities and low-income parts of American cities. And among its most compelling policy recommendations — based on data points from 296 standalone Internet plans in the United States — is that municipal networks offer a solution. 

If OTI’s report outlines the deep and persistent problem of connectivity in the United States, US Ignite and Altman Solon’s “Broadband Models for Unserved and Underserved Communities” [pdf] provides a clear and thoughtful roadmap for local communities who ask “What can we do?” Above all else, the guide shows that high-speed broadband is a solvable proposition, and sketches out five models for local governments to follow according to their unique conditions. Like the OTI report, US Ignite and Altman Solon highlight the many inherent benefits of community-enabled networks. 

Download the full reports at the bottom of this post.

Digging into the Data

If you weren’t able to attend the Transforming Communities: Broadband Goals for 2017 and Beyond event in DC on Nov. 29 - 30, or were not able to watch the live stream, you can still be there in spirit. The November 30th panel discussions are now available to view on YouTube.

The entire video runs for 4:53 and includes discussion and comments from:

• Senator John Boozman (R-AR)
• Mayor Berke, Chattanooga, TN
• Susan Crawford, John A. Reilly Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and co-director of the Berkman Center
• Blair Levin, Senior Fellow with the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings
• Gigi Sohn, Counselor to the Chairman at the Federal Communications Commission

A number of other leaders in the field of telecommunications participated in the panels and discussions, including our own Christopher Mitchell who led the panel discussion on "Leveraging High-Speed Internet for Success." The event was sponsored by Next Century Cities; the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB), and US Ignite.

As 2016 comes to a close, we face a new connectivity landscape. Next Century Cities, SHLB, and US Ignite are coming together to help community leaders prepare for the future with smart policies and keys to expanding local broadband efforts. The organizations are presenting Transforming Communities: Broadband Goals for 2017 and Beyond, bringing together connectivity leaders from the world of federal, state, and local agencies, as well as policy advisors, mayors, and leaders from anchor institutions.

The entire event will be in Washington, DC, at the Google offices - 25 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 900. Participants will gather with a networking reception tonight at 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. The main event will be tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. EST.

Christopher, as Policy Director of Next Century Cities, will moderate the first panel tomorrow, titled "Leveraging High-Speed Internet for Success." 

If you can’t make it to DC, the panel discussions will be live streamed YouTube. If you'll be in DC, you can register online through Eventbrite.

The Full Agenda:

• Welcome: John Burchett, State Policy Counsel at Google
• Welcome: Deb Socia, Next Century Cities, John Windhausen, SHLB, Bill Wallace, US Ignite
• Opening Remarks: Larry Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and Administrator, NTIA
• Keynote: Senator John Boozman (R-AR)

Leveraging High-Speed Internet for Success (First Panel)

• Mayor Berke, Chattanooga, TN
• Mayor Kirkham, Ammon, ID
• Ed Bostick, CEO, Colorado Telehealth Network
• S. Dallas Dance, Superintendent, Baltimore County Public Schools
• Crosby, Kemper, Head of Kansas City Public Library

Moderated by Chris Mitchell, Policy Director, Next Century Cities and Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative, Institute for Local Self Reliance

Broadband Policy Priorities for a New Administration (Second Panel)

Burlington has seen ups and downs over the past few years but a new chapter is about to begin. The non-profit U.S. Ignite and the City are partnering to create BTV Ignite. The initiative will develop a gigabit community infrastructure and the applications that use it. With help from U.S. Ignite, Burlington will join the growing list of gigabit communities.

An advisory committee is fueling interest in the project. Mayor Miro Weinberger describes the effort as a way to develop a tech friendly local economy and increase access for individuals and institutions. A recent Government Technology article quoted the Mayor:

“We believe we’re well on our way to being the first city in the country that provides gigabit access to every student from kindergarten through college and even graduate school here in Burlington,” Weinberger said. 

The City and its partner have developed five critical steps based on consultation with Kansas City, Chattanooga, and other gigabit communities:

1.    Develop Structure to Foster Applications-Driven Energy

Much like the KC Digital Drive in Kansas City, [Executive Director of U.S. Ignite Bill] Wallace said the mayor’s advisory committee must play a key role in helping drive development.

2.    Create the Most Robust Infrastructure

Wallace said this will be particularly necessary for schools, businesses and libraries.

3.    Embrace Technology Through Community Events and Hackathons

By setting up a continuous stream of events like community hackathons, digital sandboxes and a hacker homes network similar to one developed in Kansas City, the city will be able to focus more on app development for specific capabilities, like cybersecurity or the development of complex systems.

4.    Share Practices With Other Cities to Deploy Networks

This could also mean sharing practices on how to generate applications.

5.    Tap into Federal Resources

Wallace said looking to federally funded resources like the National Science Foundation will be important when building out the infrastructure and developing applications.