State

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced a new initiative to strengthen and formalize the cooperation between the FCC and its state partners on privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity enforcement matters.

The Biden administration’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law devotes $65 billion to a moon shot mission, involving all 50 states and U.S. territories, to bridge the digital divide once and for all.

In November 2023, the Empire State Development’s ConnectALL Office released the draft New York State Digital Equity Plan and sought public comment on how New York will bridge the digital divide in the state.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) included $42.45 billion for broadband funding across the country, made available through the National Technology and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) sent comments to the NTIA prior to the release of the agency’s guidance for the BEAD program, urging the agency to “take a vendor and technology neutral approach to issuing grant funding,” and avoid supporting government owned networks, among other recommendations. After these recommendations were

One of the most perplexing requirements for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant program is that state broadband plans must include a middle-class affordability plan to make sure that all consumers have access to affordable broadband. I don’t know anybody who fully understands what this means.

Delaware seeks to promote digital equity to ensure that all residents, regardless of their background or location, have equal opportunities to access education, health care, job prospects, government services, and information critical to personal growth and well-being.

In its draft Digital Equity Plan, the  Maryland Office of Statewide Broadband (OSB) recognizes that digital equity is crucial in today’s interconnected world.

The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) announced that two Illinois Probation Departments/County Court Services Departments were each awarded a $5,000 grant from the Foundation for Rural Services-Community Service Grants Program. The Foundation for Rural Services (FRS) is a nonprofit organization that works with the National Telephone Cooperative Association (NTCA) Rural Broadband Association to sustain and enhance the quality of life in rural America. Effingham County Probation Department’s ‘Discovery to Recovery Outpatient Substance Abuse Program’ will “provide new equipme

Bringing broadband to under-served parts of rural America is one element of a giant infrastructure program that began in 2021 when President Joe Biden signed it into law. It was hailed as a historic opportunity to repair America’s bridges, rebuild its roads for electric vehicles and update its power grid and communications technology. However, instead of the anticipated surge, total infrastructure spending has fallen by more than 10% in real terms since the passage of the law. The most charitable explanation is that it takes time for big projects to get going.

Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative (MEC) is using Ciena tech to build middle mile backbone scalable from 100 Gigabit to 400 Gigabit. MEC serves 31,000 member accounts across nine Virginia counties and five North Carolina counties. It delivers broadband in its service territory through its subsidiary EMPOWER Broadband. Specifically, the co-op is leveraging Ciena’s 8114 Coherent Aggregation Router and 5160 Service Aggregation Switch for the middle mile network.