Local/Municipal

As policymakers in the nation’s states and territories explore how best to spend billions of dollars in federal infrastructure money intended to expand access to broadband, a key focus has been on how to avoid a host of potential obstacles that can impede or thwart their progress. Critically, stakeholders in a majority of states repeatedly raised the same key issues.

What if there was a way to encourage fiber upgrades to those communities without direct government expenditures? Internet service providers (ISPs) have often complained that cities put up barriers and add costs to fiber deployment; what if cities reduced or removed those enough to change the economics and induce new fiber builds? That is exactly what Memphis (TN) has done. Only 24% of Memphis households have access to fiber, largely from AT&T.

The City of Cabot, Arkansas, is getting a high-speed broadband network that the city will own and that will be operated by Connect2First, the broadband unit of local power company First Electric Cooperative Corporation. Unlike many broadband buildouts these days, the network will be built without any government funding.

A $15 million grant from the Illinois Office of Broadband will make Kendall County’s plan to provide high-speed internet to nearly all residents of the County possible. Kendall County announced that with the grant award, it intends to develop a public-private partnership that will result in more than $40 million in investment in a community-owned broadband network.

Longmont’s (CO) award-winning fiber-optic internet service NextLight has now crossed north of Colorado Highway 66, expanding to serve customers beyond the Longmont city limits. NextLight announced that it has begun to connect residents of the Anhawa and Strawberry Circle (CO) neighborhoods.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) has proven to be a digital lifeline for its 23 million beneficiaries. However, although lawmakers have known for over a year that the fund would be bankrupt by this spring, GOP congressional leaders have not budged on even bipartisan attempts to save the ACP, prompting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to announce in January the wind down the popular program. It’s a major setback for the “Internet for All” effort,

In spite of all the public broadband haters, municipalities will be allowed to vie for money from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

In news that's probably not sitting well with public broadband naysayers, communities now have a handy guidebook to build their own networks.

We are seeing a shift into a digital world. Internet access is increasingly becoming a requirement to participate in education, health care and the workforce. More and more, national companies are embracing the idea of virtual reality, and on the city level, we’re seeing growth in the use of social media and digital engagement more than ever before. We even consume our news mostly online. And, while this is an exciting and fast-paced shift, we MUST make sure that we are not leaving people behind as we grow.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the new members of the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee.  This advisory panel provides guidance, expertise, and recommendations to the FCC on telecommunications issues affecting local, county, state and Tribal governments.