Local/Municipal

For decades, public broadband networks have been successfully serving hundreds of communities with fast, robust, and affordable internet access. Unlike private-sector networks, municipal, tribal, and other community- and member-owned broadband networks are focused on ensuring universal, robust connectivity at affordable prices. The results have been remarkable.

The Maine Connectivity Resource Exchange is Maine Connectivity Authority's home to resources and knowledge to support, enable, and empower municipal and Tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, subgrantees, and the public on all aspects of the broadband ecosystem in Maine. The first module is in support of the upcoming BEAD State-Led Challenge Process. This module contains 7 units that will work to guide our partners through this several months-long process.

California's Broadband Loan Loss Reserve Fund is a $500 million fund that provides a credit enhancement related to the financing of local broadband infrastructure development. The reserve fund expands the ability of local governments, tribes and non-profits to secure financing for building last-mile projects, with an emphasis on public broadband networks. The Fund will provide collateral to local governments to enable more favorable borrowing rates and terms for bonds issued to deploy broadband infrastructure. The Fund was established in 2021. The benefits of the Fund include:

Akron (OH) Mayor Shammas Malik announced a long-term plan to bring affordable high speed internet to all city residents. Through a partnership with SiFi Networks, $200 million will be invested in a plan to install, maintain and operate an underground fiber optic internet network by the above targeted year of 2030. SiFi Networks plans to foot the entire $200 million bill at no cost to the city of Akron. “In 2024, it is essential that every person in Akron has access to high-speed, affordable internet,” said Mayor Malik.

Amid a slew of executive appointments and policy changes, local government workers will feel assured that Mayor Cherelle Parker (D-PA) plans to continue the City of Philadelphia’s digital equity work.

The township of Edison (NJ) has received a $2 million grant from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs to expand municipal broadband services. The Township Council passed a resolution accepting the grant, and Edison now has a 24-month period to build a portion of the infrastructure, part of which is a server, as well as a business plan which is expected to be completed soon, officials said. Previously officials have said the business plan would look at the strengths and weaknesses of municipal broadband and determine market competition.

Cities have been petitioning the Federal Communications Commission to ask it to revisit the issue of the ‘mixed-use’ rule that blocks municipalities from assessing franchise fees on broadband revenues. Cities argue that franchise fees are not taxes, and instead are fees that help cities to manage their rights-of-way. The municipal (or state) franchise fee is capped at 5% of retail cable TV revenue, and cable companies typically tack this fee onto every cable bill. The biggest complaint from cities involves what they call cable company arbitrage.

The Town of Sevastopol (WI) announced a project with AT&T to expand AT&T Fiber to more than 2,000 customer locations across the town. Under the $7.4 million public-private project, AT&T will provide fiber services to residential and business addresses in the Town of Sevastopol in Door County. Extensive planning and engineering work for this project will begin in the first quarter of 2024.

This Digital Equity Plan for Older Adults and People with Disabilities in San Francisco details an extensive investigative and strategic planning process aimed at enhancing digital equity for San Francisco's older adults and people with disabilities. The primary goals of this Plan are to describe the digital equity barriers and needs of San Francisco's older adults and people with disabilities, as well as the organizations that serve them.

The city of Bardstown (KY) has reached an agreement to sell its small cable TV company Bardstown Connect to Charter Communications, ending city ownership that began nearly four decades ago. The city decided to sell because Bardstown Connect was losing cable and broadband Internet subscribers, resulting in a recent 2% drop in combined revenue stemming from increased competition from online streaming services and various Internet Service Providers (ISPs).