1. Monthly archive
  2. January 2020

January 2020

New Rural Broadband Deployment Model: MCNC Partners with Facebook on North Carolina Build

Facebook and MCNC, the non-profit operator of the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN) are “co-investing” to build a high-speed fiber network interconnecting the rural North Carolina communities of Dobson and Forest City. The latter community is home to a huge data center owned by Facebook. MCNC provides backbone connectivity throughout large portions of North Carolina, including areas where it’s difficult to make a business case for fiber deployment.

USDA Invests $61 Million to Bring Broadband to Rural Missourians

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has invested $60.9 million in high-speed broadband infrastructure that will create or improve e-Connectivity for more than 11,000 rural households, 81 farms, 73 businesses, 16 educational facilities, 12 critical community facilities and two health care facilities in rural Missouri. The following five projects throughout the state were announced:

USDA Invests $15.5 Million in Broadband for Rural Louisiana Communities

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has invested $15.5 million in a high-speed broadband infrastructure project that will create or improve rural e-Connectivity for 2,609 rural households, 12 pre-subscribed businesses and 16 pre-subscribed farms in Iberville, Pointe Coupee and St. Landry (LA) parishes. Star Telephone Company will use a $7.7 million ReConnect Program grant and a $7.7 million ReConnect Program loan to deploy 154 miles of optical fiber and 95 miles of drop optical fiber cable to the premises. The project will cover 136 square miles in Iberville, Pointe Coupee and St.

What the FCC Has Accomplished Under 3 Years of Chairman Pai

The Federal Communications Commission released an eleven-page list of accomplishments under 3 years of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's leadership, with the following categories:

Commissioner Starks Remarks to NAB Joint Board of Directors

Since day one as a Federal Communications Commissioner, I have been speaking up and speaking out to advance diversity in broadcast media. I am also focused more broadly on what we as public servants should be doing to achieve the mandate in the Communications Act of making communications available to all Americans. We must do better in fulfilling the FCC's obligation to promote ownership by women and people of color.

Chairman Pai promised faster broadband expansion—Comcast cut spending instead

Comcast reduced capital spending on its cable division in 2019, devoting less money to network extensions and improvements despite a series of government favors that were supposed to accelerate broadband expansions.

CenturyLink scored billions in CAF II funds, eyes the next giveaway: RDOF

CenturyLink has benefited the most from the Connect America Fund (CAF) II, a Federal Communications Commission program that has awarded Universal Service Funds to telecommunication operators to build broadband in unserved and underserved areas of the US, especially rural areas. CenturyLink has received $506 million per year since 2015 in CAF II awards, which will total more than $3 billion over the six-year period from 2015 to 2020. Now, the FCC has proposed a follow-on program to CAF.

© 1994-2024 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.