County

Cook County (IL) Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced the inaugural recipients of the Digital Equity IMPACT Small Grants Program, a groundbreaking initiative designed to promote digital inclusion through storytelling and community engagement. A total of 15 organizations across Cook County have been awarded grants of $7,500 or $15,000, depending on the size and scope of their projects.

Digital connectivity is becoming more vital in driving economic growth, attracting inward investment, creating jobs and improving outcomes for people and communities. Improving availability and access to improved broadband is important for many of the key sectors within Harlan County and plays a crucial role in attracting inward investment to the area:

Grafton County, New Hampshire's second-largest county, began a $17 million project to construct a 200-mile fiber-optic middle-mile network. The initiative, led by the Grafton County Board of Commissioners and the county’s broadband committee, with infrastructure provider eX² Technology, aims to transform connectivity in 25 municipalities across the county that currently lack reliable Internet access. The project was spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and revealed the dire need for broadband expansion across rural Grafton County.

Subsidies like the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) are unaffordable and set communities up for failure, according to Eric Sasaki, the manager of major programs at L.A. County’s internal services department. To address the digital divide in Los Angeles County, Sasaki said the county has chosen another path. “We were very flexible in terms of how we approached our model,” Sasaki said.

In a quarterly update to the Monongalia County (WV) Commission, Comcast Compliance Manager Dana Gossert explained the design of a $17.8 million broadband expansion project is expected to be complete in 2024. The project will bring broadband to 2,175 unserved and underserved homes and businesses in all areas of Monongalia County.

In a significant effort to bridge the digital divide, the Cook County (IL) Office of the President announced the launch of the Cook County Digital Equity IMPACT Small Grants Program. The program will support community organizations in using storytelling as a tool to promote digital inclusion. Funded with $187,500 provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), this initiative builds upon the County’s Digital Equity Action Plan and underscores Cook County’s ongoing commitment to ensuring equitable digital access for all residents.

At the Connected Oklahoma – Rural Broadband Summit in Oklahoma City, I shared my thoughts on the future of the Universal Service Fund (USF) and Low Earth Orbit satellites. Here's the homework I asked the audience to do:

High-speed, fiber-optic broadband internet is coming to more than 1,300 unserved and underserved locations in rural Knox County (IL). The expansion is the result of investments by the Knox County board that led to more than $12 million in state grants and a total investment of $17 million, including what local and national internet providers will contribute. The county board allocated $2.4 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds to the broadband initiative in March 2022 and a broadband steering team was convened.

In 2022, the Berks County (PA) commissioners found out their county, like many other counties across the country, was facing a digital divide. There was a widening, increasingly troublesome gap between those with Internet access and the skills to use it and those without. That realization was laid bare in a study conducted by an independent contractor that took a look at broadband access and availability. Seeing a need for things to change, they committed $6.3 million to addressing the challenges faced by the County.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is making billions of dollars available to expand broadband networks throughout rural America—and with these networks, access to all the opportunities and advantages internet service allows.  Billions of dollars for broadband construction also means billions of dollars in construction projects seeking approval from local permitting offices. Reviewing these projects will be no small task, especially in rural areas where local governments have limited resources.