State

Governor Walz Announces $52 Million to Expand Broadband to nearly 8,000 Minnesota Homes and Businesses

Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) announced $52 million in grants to expand broadband access to an estimated 7,700 homes and businesses throughout Minnesota. The grant awards will help broadband providers expand high-speed broadband service in 24 counties across Minnesota. The grants come from two Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) programs:

Rhode Island Commerce Announces Selection of GoNetspeed, Verizon for First Round of $25 Million Broadband Infrastructure Investment

The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation announces the selection of internet service providers (ISPs) to complete preapproved infrastructure projects that will improve broadband service for an estimated 6,700 locations in Jamestown, Newport, and Westerly. This round is the first of two to award nearly $25 million in Capital Projects Fund (CPF) investments. Three proposals were selected in a competitive bid process which prioritized speed and affordability by requiring buildouts to include end-to-end fiber networks that can deliver speeds of 100/100Mbps without exceeding $53.09/month.

How fixed wireless access emerged a killer app in 5G

We at Mobile Experts have been tracking the fixed wireless access (FWA) market for many years. In 2017, we predicted that 5G FWA would be a success.

Biden-Harris Administration Approves California’s “Internet for All” Initial Proposal

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved California’s Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative. This approval enables California to request access to funding and begin implementation of the BEAD program. California was allocated over $1.8 billion to deploy or upgrade high-speed Internet networks to ensure that everyone has access to reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet service.  

Biden-Harris Administration Approves North Carolina’s “Internet for All” Initial Proposal

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved North Carolina’s Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative. This approval enables North Carolina to request access to funding and begin implementation of the BEAD program. North Carolina was allocated over $1.5 billion to deploy or upgrade high-speed Internet networks to ensure that everyone has access to reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet service.  

CostQuest ‘gerrymanders for good’ to help states create BEAD biddable locations

If you know CostQuest at all you probably think of it as the company that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hired to help the FCC clean up and refine its national broadband map. But the company is also working with state broadband offices on their Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) programs.

NetChoice, the Lobbying Group Helping to Broaden the First Amendment’s Reach

Ahead of a recent vote in Congress on a child safety bill, a powerful tech lobby representing Google, Meta and other major tech firms sent a forceful warning to lawmakers. The Kids Online Safety Act was “bad on policy and bad on the law,” the lobby, NetChoice, said in a statement, adding, “Courts across the country repeatedly halted these types of provisions.” The child safety bill, which would require social media platforms and other sites to limit features that can promote cyberbullying, har

BEAD Grant Reimbursement

Now that Broadband Offices have started the process of soliciting Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant applications, I thought I’d discuss a topic that anybody who wins a BEAD grant is going to care about—how a Broadband Office will reimburse grant winners for making expenditures. You might think this is straightforward, but unfortunately it is not. Grant offices are taking a wide variety of approaches to how they reimburse internet service providers (ISPs) for grant expenditures. Why does the method of payment matter? It probably doesn’t to giant ISPs.

Ensuring Affordable Broadband for all Virginians

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) sees the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program as Virginia’s opportunity to finish the job of extending broadband access and also make long-term, transformational investments into broadband affordability and adoption. With the $1.48 billion in BEAD funds for Virginia, DHCD is finalizing plans to extend broadband infrastructure to the remaining unserved locations without a funded solution for connectivity and designing programs to meaningfully address broadband affordability and adoption.

Every State Identifies Broadband Affordability as Primary Barrier to Closing Digital Divide

In 2021, Congress enacted the Digital Equity Act (DEA) as part of the massive Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). This marked the first time that federal lawmakers had dedicated funding specifically for digital equity programming, providing money for state broadband offices to analyze the digital equity landscape in their states and develop plans to reduce the barriers to accessing such critical service. For the first time, all 50 states; Washington, D.C.; and Puerto Rico created digital equity plans under the planning grant program.