Legislation

Biden-Harris Administration Awards More Than $6 Million to New Jersey in ‘Internet for All’ Planning Grants

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that New Jersey received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

Biden-Harris Administration Awards More Than $8.1 Million to Texas in ‘Internet for All’ Planning Grants

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Texas received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

Hidden Unserved Locations

There is a mountain of complaints to be made about the Federal Communications Commission's new National Broadband Map. In some parts of the country, there are a lot of missing rural locations, including entire subdivisions. Close analysis of the map shows what folks in the broadband world have always known, but were unable to prove, that the big cable companies and telcos don’t cover everybody. It is these unserved folks in the middle of cities that I call the hidden unserved locations. These little pockets came about for a variety of reasons.

Tech legislation's 2022 scorecard

A bevy of proposals to limit Big Tech firms' power gave up their last gasp as Congress released the text of its year-end spending bill. But the following major tech-related b

Biden-Harris Administration Awards More Than $6.3 Million to Michigan in ‘Internet for All’ Planning Grants

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Michigan received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

FCC commits over $65 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Program

The Federal Communications Commission is committing over $65 million in new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Program (ECP), which provides digital services for students in communities across the country.

Gerrymandering may come to broadband buildout, courtesy of the 80% rule

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is clear: the $42.5 billion for broadband buildout should prioritize projects for the unserved. Specifically, states should prioritize projects where 80% of the locations served by the project are unserved. It may be impossible to reach all the unserved with projects that are 80% or more unserved without gerrymandering the project areas or changing the rules. Census block groups work well as a proxy for broadband project areas because they’re not too big and not too small.

Biden-Harris Administration Announces More Than $18.5 Million in Internet for All Grants to Five Minority-Serving Colleges and Universities  

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA has awarded five grants as part of the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program (CMC). These grants, totaling over $18.5 million, will expand community technology hubs, upgrade classroom technology, and increase digital literacy skills at five minority-serving institutions in California, Missouri, Louisiana, and Alabama. The CMC grants, directed by NTIA’s Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives, cover costs such as the purchase of high-speed Internet service and eligible equipment, the hiring

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Support for 1,764 Winning Bids Ready to be Authorized

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau and the Office of Economics and Analytics announced they are ready to authorize Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (Auction 904) support for 1,764 Auction 904 winning bids. Nearly all of the winning bids are Resound Networks, a wireless internet service provider. Bids are to serve parts of Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The FCC also announced that Xiber, a broadband provider headquartered in Indianapolis, is forfeiting bids in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas. 

VCTI Launches Broadband Map Integrity Service to Assist States, Localities, Schools, and Others to Challenge FCC Broadband Maps

The Broadband Map Integrity service is a new offering is designed to help states, municipalities, schools, and other interested parties to quickly and efficiently submit challenges to the recently-released FCC maps, the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric (Fabric), that will inform the allocation of $42.5 billion in BEAD (Broadband Equity Access and Deployment) grants.