Broadband

FCC adopts rules prohibiting ‘digital redlining’

Deploying broadband in a way that discriminates against low-income communities is barred under the new rules, but observers worry that loopholes will make the rules less effective.

  • By Kery Murakami

A robust digital equity plan can boost rural broadband access

A new toolkit from a rural broadband association calls on local leaders to build partnerships, engage in community outreach, and emphasize digital literacy and cybersecurity skills among residents.

  • By Chris Teale

Feds ease capital requirement for broadband funding

The rule, which required internet companies to put down millions of dollars upfront, would have excluded all but the biggest providers.

  • By Kery Murakami

A new federal proposal looks to take on digital redlining

The rules, which observers anticipate will be challenged in court, would allow the FCC to penalize broadband companies for providing poorer service to low-income customers.

  • By Kery Murakami

Concerns rise as aid to help low-income families afford broadband nears end

State broadband offices say that a subsidy to help low-income households get online is key to national efforts to provide every American with access to high-speed internet.

  • By Kery Murakami

For rural communities, broadband expansion is no single thing

Small communities trying to take advantage of massive federal funding now available for broadband expansion deal with multiple hurdles. Resistance from major providers is just one of them.

  • By Ilana Newman, The Daily Yonder

A capital requirement for broadband funding could exclude thousands of providers

A coalition of state broadband leaders said in a letter that a condition of the federal BEAD program would shut out all but the biggest providers.

  • By Chris Teale

Higher minimum broadband speeds reflect internet’s growth

The FCC last raised the standard definition of broadband in 2015. Since then, demand from users has soared, prompting some to call for raising that standard as states prepare to build more infrastructure.

  • By Chris Teale

AT&T, the broadband conundrum and a $204 million tax exemption

The tax break was the latest in favorable legislation for the state’s top political spender.

  • By Adam Friedman and Sam Stockard, Tennessee Lookout

Rural Texas may lose out on billions in broadband infrastructure funding due to federal regulations

Grant applicants are required to have a line of credit from a major bank and put up 25% of the project cost ahead of time. That will likely disqualify many small internet service providers in rural areas.

  • By Jayme Lozano Carver, The Texas Tribune

States have broadband money. Now they just have to figure out how to spend it.

States have less than six months to submit their plans to the federal government on how they will spend their allotment of the $42.5 billion to build out the nation’s broadband.

  • By Kery Murakami

How cities can navigate their state’s broadband preemption laws

The National League of Cities takes a look at how municipalities can expand broadband even when state authority may limit their ability to do so.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson
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More than $42 billion in broadband funding allocations announced

President Joe Biden released how much each state will receive in funding under the bipartisan infrastructure law to expand access to high speed internet in America’s under- and unserved communities.

  • By Kery Murakami

Women are part of ‘invisible’ labor market building fiber networks

An ambitious broadband expansion in Maine is creating demand for more workers to hang fiber. Women are increasingly responding to the opportunity.

  • By Carolyn Campbell, The Daily Yonder

3 Simple Steps to Improve Digital Government

COMMENTARY | A customer-centric approach to digital government can help agencies connect more individuals and families with critical services and strengthen the bonds of trust between government and those they serve.

  • By Michele Causey

A New Map Could Mean Less Money to Expand Broadband for Some States

The revised map that shows where there is little to no internet service in the U.S. comes as the feds are about to distribute nearly $42.5 billion in broadband funding.

  • By Kery Murakami

Mayors Oppose a GOP Bill to Speed Up Broadband Permitting

The proposal would put a “shot clock” on permit approvals in an effort to streamline the process to build broadband around the country. But mayors say it preempts their ability to make crucial construction decisions.

  • By Kery Murakami

Early State Broadband Spending Shows Policy Evolution

Vermont is using its share of the federal Capital Projects Fund for last-mile connections to underserved rural areas and boosting digital equity among disadvantaged residents.

  • By Chris Teale

Inside One State's Effort to Build New Workforce for Broadband Expansion

States nationwide are struggling to find enough workers to reach federal goals of expanding high-speed internet to every home this decade. New Mexico wants to fix that by ramping up trainings and apprenticeships.

  • By Megan Gleason, Source New Mexico

Solving digital inequity with resident input

The Golden State wants to hear from the public about their broadband connections and device accessibility to better understand how to address digital equity barriers.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Building better maps with open data on building heights

To inform broadband buildouts, positioning of solar panels and development of digital twins, state and local agencies can now tap into open building height data.

  • By Stephanie Kanowitz