The Federal Communications Commission has been making admirable progress on its new broadband maps, and recently it opened up its system for internet service providers (ISPs) to input coverage data against the new Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric.
CENIC and its subsidiary, GoldenStateNet, in partnership with the State of California, have embarked upon an ambitious middle mile effort as a critical step towards broadband equity. This is part of the historic $6 Billion investment that Legislature and Governor of California are making to achieve this critical goal, with additional significant investments at the Federal level. Altogether, this is the most ambitious state broadband equity initiative in the history of the Internet.
One of the more interesting requirements of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program grant process is that States must reach out to communities and stakeholders to make sure that everybody gets a voice in setting the state grant rules. This is something that communities of all kinds should be participating in. It’s easy to think of the $42.5 billion BEAD grants as only for rural broadband.
At this meeting, the Task Force will hear presentations on cybersecurity, the future of agriculture production in the United States, and updates from the Working Group leadership on their progress. This agenda may be modified at the discretion of the Task Force Chair and the Designated Federal Officer.
The meeting will be wholly electronic, and is open to the public on the Internet via live feed from the FCC’s web page at www.fcc.gov/live.
Back in March, the Fiber Broadband Association in partnership with NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association released the Broadband Infrastructure Playbook, a comprehensive guide designed to assist state broadband offices in making efficient and effective use of federal funds made available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
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