County

The broadband landscape across Northeastern Minnesota, and the state in general, has changed significantly since 2014, as gains made in providing access to high-speed connectivity populate communities like the Iron Range. It comes at a time when such internet connections have become critical in business, education, and often in day-to-day life.

Officials from Washington County (PA) are pressing ahead with an ambitious internet access expansion plan by earmarking up to $50 million to connect 5,000 homes, schools, and businesses. The project, which is the latest phase of a plan to connect all of the county, will unfold over six to nine months, leverage additional capital funds from vendors, and target poorly served areas for service, including the eight municipalities comprising the McGuffey School District, which is the most underserved school system in the county. Altogether, 700 miles of fiber optic cable will be strung in the la

The Federal Communications Commission set guidelines for two pilot programs aimed at increasing both awareness of and participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households (and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands). On October 11, the FCC provided an update on the implementation of the pilot programs.

Over the last two years, in California and across the country, billions of public dollars have been allocated to end the digital divide. The Digital Equity LA coalition and the California Community Foundation (CCF) Digital Equity Initiative set out in this report to document what people are being asked to pay for home internet in diverse neighborhoods across Los Angeles County (CA). Pricing information was obtained directly from internet service provider (ISP) websites using residential addresses in each of the neighborhoods examined.

Spectrum is constructing a fiber-optic network expansion project that will bring gigabit broadband and other Spectrum services to over 4700 homes and small businesses in Wexford County (MI). Spectrum services are already available to some residents and small business owners in the buildout area. The buildout is part of Spectrum’s approximately $5 billion investment in unserved rural areas, which includes more than $1 billion won in the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction.

The Nobles County (MN) Board of Commissioners boosted a local “Fiber to Home” broadband effort by reaffirming its $2 million commitment and kicking in another $2 million after a grant application for US Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding was denied. Mark Loosbrock, secretary and treasurer of Lismore Cooperative Telephone Company which is spearheading the project, explained that in applying for the grant, engineers and consultants used maps to assess the area already served by broadband, and given that information believed they would be given a high number of points on the grant’s scor

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors recently voted unanimously to provide Arizona State University (ASU) and its collaborators $34.6 million through 2026 to advance broadband, community support, equipment, and training across Maricopa County, which includes the metro Phoenix area. The funding makes ASU home to the largest university-led digital equity initiative in the country. ASU Enterprise Technology, Sun Corridor Network and t

City of Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and County Executive Rich Fitzgerald created the Pittsburgh Digital Equity Coalition (PDEC), a working group of anchor organizations already working to promote digital equity and smaller community groups with intimate knowledge of the community need.

The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development is awarding $446,770,282 in grants for the expansion of internet access across Tennessee. Nearly $50 million more will be directed to broadband adoption and digital literacy efforts. More than 150,000 unserved homes and businesses in 58 counties receiving broadband access. Priority was given to applicants with the lowest internet speeds, though all “unserved” areas (where only services with speeds below 100 Mbps download speed and 20 Mbps upload) were considered for the grant.

The Lee County (IL) Board is earmarking $1.7 million toward a massive, multi-county project to expand broadband in rural areas. Ogle County (IL) has spearheaded a Broadband for All initiative that’s a public-private partnership to improve broadband access in counties including Ogle and Lee. The partnership is with Syndeo Networks, and the group is applying for a $28 million “Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program” grant through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Lee County’s contribution would be about $1.7 million for more than $11 million