Lawmakers are pushing the Trump administration to stop being murky on whether states will be able to access tens of billions in “non-deployment funds” mandated by Congress that have been temporarily hijacked by the administration’s unpopular changes to a once-in-a-lifetime federal grant program to expand high-speed Internet access. Representative April McClain Delaney (D-MD) is the latest politician to send a letter to the Trump NTIA asking for competent guidance on what will happen to the estimated $21 billion in “non deployment funds” suddenly stuck in limbo.

The administration urged the court to rule immediately in NDIA v. Trump, while plaintiffs disputed whether the issue can be resolved at this stage. During a hearing before U.S. District Judge John Bates, Commerce Department attorney Patrick Butler argued that a statutory provision identifying certain racial and ethnic groups as “covered populations” could be severed from the law if found unconstitutional, allowing the rest of the program to move forward without considering race.

Moore Haven, Florida-based Glades Electric Cooperative has completed a long-planned fiber broadband network into largely unserved parts of the Sunshine State. The 1,600-mile network, built in conjunction with Conexon Connect, now spans Glades, Hendry, Highlands and Okeechobee counties, and the vast majority of the cooperative’s electrical footprint.

Today, The Verge published an in-depth piece authored by our own Sean Gonsalves and ILSR contributor Karl Bode that examines the BEAD program from its inception to the boondoggle its become. The piece details how the once-in-a-generation program meant to solve America’s digital divide has devolved into “a flaming mess.”

On July 7 at 12 noon ET, the next installment in the joint webinar series from the American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB) and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) will go live and showcase a new financing and governance model being put into real-world action that allows for communities to control their digital futures. The conversation will be grounded in two case studies — Kendall County and Lewiston — that illustrate what it actually takes to move a community fiber project from idea to operating network, using a creative “63-20” tax-exempt bond model championed by Pivot-Tech Development, which specializes in public-private partnerships for community-owned broadband networks.

California community leaders, activists, and a coalition of partners gathered earlier this month to celebrate the launch of a new broadband infrastructure project at Sequoia Courts and Sequoia Courts Terrace in Fresno, bringing free high-speed Internet access to more than 350 residents. The Fresno grant was for $471,000, with $1,000 or less per unit cost to build, according to details on the project included in a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) filing, which notes that the enterprise-grade wireless mesh network used in the project was more costly, but provided “flexibility and scalability for future expansion.”

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance today released its comprehensive 2026 census of Tribal Internet networks, finding that the number of active Tribal-owned and operated broadband networks has doubled since ILSR first conducted this research in 2020, while offering a new way to interact with these networks’ stories.

Trump Federal Communication Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has announced vague potential changes to the FCC’s E-Rate program that could harm program funding, effectiveness, and the overarching goal of bringing affordable Internet access to long-neglected schools and rural communities trapped on the wrong side of the digital divide. The reforms come as Carr also looks to make changes to the FCC’s broadband mapping efforts, something consumer groups say could harm the government’s ability to measure which communities need improved, affordable access, or suffer from a pronounced lack of broadband competition.

Today, the American Prospect published an analysis authored by our own Sean Gonsalves that examines how a recently filed bill in California aims to strip telecommunications oversight authority away from the California Public Utilities Commission and undermines the state's effort to make broadband more affordable.

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams – a non-voting member of the New York City Council with the right to introduce and co-sponsor legislation – released a detailed “Get Connected” report calling “for the city to deliver high-speed, low-cost citywide municipal Internet service akin to a public utility.” The 53-page report lays the policy groundwork for what at least has the potential to become the Mamdani administration's signature infrastructure initiative.

Grays Harbor Public Utility District (PUD), a wholesale open access telecom utility in Washington state, will soon enter phase four of an ambitious fiber expansion project that will bring affordable next-gen broadband access to rural residents written off by the monopolies that were supposed to serve them. The PUD also says that Phase 4 of the PUD’s fiber internet expansion in south Elma, Porter and Cedarville will be reached later this Spring, bringing access to locals who have been waiting for years for faster, more reliable, and more affordable service.

The California State Assembly recently voted 67-1 to strip telecom oversight authority away from the CPUC and shift it to a more easily lobbied state legislature – and an as-yet-undefined state broadband office. The effort still has a long road before it’s formalized. Assembly Constitutional Amendment 9, authored by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, D-Encinitas, now moves on to the California Senate, where it needs to secure a two-thirds vote before appearing on a statewide ballot before California voters.