County

Warren County (OH) and altafiber announced a new partnership to bring gigabit high-speed broadband fiber Internet access to approximately 52,000 addresses over the next 36-48 months. Upon completion of the project, 100 percent of Warren County’s single-family residences will have access to fiber-based Internet. altafiber’s total investment in the project will be approximately $100 million, which includes bringing fiber to 50,000 Single Family Units, as well as 2,000 Multi-Dwelling Units.

Ottawa County (MI) will extend broadband internet service to unserved and underserved areas of the county through a $27 million public-private partnership with a southeast Michigan firm, Southfield-based 123Net. The company will invest $3.5 million as part of a proposed $27 million project to extend 383 miles of fiber-optic lines across the county that initially would pass by nearly 10,000 addresses and could expand in the future.

The American Rescue Plan has helped to power one of the strongest and most equitable recoveries on record while making investments which position our nation for economic success in the coming decades. Over 30,000 state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments have received State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds and made $24.3 billion in critical infrastructure investments in broadband, water, and sewer. Governments have reported budgeting nearly $7.3 billion in SLFRF funds towards broadband.

The Federal Communications Commission is targeting approximately $66 million through the Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program to drive awareness and enrollment in the country’s newest and largest broadband affordability program in the nation’s history.

If governments are to truly close the digital divide, they must focus on encouraging community broadband adoption and making sure residents have tools to access high-speed internet, not just on installing infrastructure. While there has been a lot of recent talk about the need to better map broadband availability, panelists at Nextgov and GCN’s Emerging Tech Summit warned that there must also be a similar emphasis on ensuring that people can take advantage of internet access, or else some communities will not feel the benefits. And while investing in new broadband networks is a tangible way

This paper examines the association between Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) awards, disability, and technology access. The paper found that:  

Since the beginning of her tenure in mid-2022, it was imperative to Alex Houff, Digital Equity and Virtual Services Manager, to “establish a vision for a connected Baltimore county and what it takes to make that happen.” To accomplish that mission, she noted three things had to occur:

The National Association of Counties (NACo), which represents all of America's 3,069 county governments, seeks to work with our federal partners to develop a substantive farm bill to strengthen federal resources that allow counties to make critical investments in our nation's most underserved populations. Counties support bridging the Digital Divide as a key recommendation for the 2023 Farm Bill.  According to the Federal Communications Commission, approximately 14.5 million Americans lack access to broadband speeds of at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload, with 11 mi

The Martin County, MN, Board of Commissioners has authorized a historic $1.5 million of funding for rural broadband development assistance.

Consolidated Communications was awarded $40 million in funding from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to build fiber to nearly 25,000 unserved homes throughout New Hampshire. Consolidated will invest its own capital to bring fiber to more than 32,000 additional homes.