Government Technology

Even though community broadband has proven itself incredibly valuable and viable, broadband is taking a beating in some areas of the country thanks to what has become a siege against municipal broadband by the large telecommunication incumbents, including AT&T, Comcast, and others.

Delaware offcials and wireless network company Bloosurf have signed a deal expand broadband access in the state. The Delaware Department of Technology and Information (DTI) estimates about 127,000 homes and businesses will benefit from the three-stage project. The state will pay $2 million to add routers at 14 Internet towers and for new fiber-optic lines in Kent and Sussex counties.

Pew Charitable Trusts, which has spent more than a year studying Americans’ access to broadband, will soon be launching an online explorer inventorying the data it’s collected — including information on gaps to coverage and the policies state governments are pursuing to fill them.  The explorer will be a searchable catalog of everything from current laws and policies, to information on funding and financing, and will likely launch sometime late this summer, said Kathryn de Wit, manager of the project. “What we know at this point is that different communities can be difficult to connect for