Interview With Jay Ovittore of Communities United for Broadband

Officials in Bountiful, Utah say they’ve completed the city’s $48 million open access fiber network a year ahead of schedule, bringing fast, affordable broadband access to the Salt Lake City suburb of 45,000. The city of Bountiful owns the network while UTOPIA designed, built and manages the network and takes a share of the revenue.

The mystery of who and what killed the California Affordable Home Internet Act is coming into view. The evidence seems to be pointing to the new leadership now directing the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. In a recently released FAQ published by the NTIA this week, a corroborating clue has emerged. And what may be the smoking gun is a bullet buried on page 48, under section 3.29.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors recently announced that it has approved a list of new affordable housing sites that are eligible to receive free Internet for one year. According to the county, 556 low-income Sonoma County households across 10 different housing locations should qualify for the free broadband service.

Last week, a California Assemblymember who had sponsored legislation for a broadband affordability law abruptly withdrew the legislation. But what really killed the broadband affordability bill in California? In explaining why Assemblymember Tasha Boerner withdrew the legislation, she did not say it was because of the pushback her office was getting from digital inclusion advocates across the state – or because of industry objections for that matter. Boerner laid it at the feet of the Trump administration.

ILSR publishes new piece in The American Prospect on how the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" cuts food assistance benefits to households that pay for internet access.

If you missed our Building for Digital Equity “Wired for Freedom” Livestream, you can watch it in its entirety here. The second UTOPIA Fiber-sponsored event of the year, hosted in partnership with the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), brought together community-based digital inclusion practitioners and policy experts to talk about the road ahead for expanding broadband access amid a rapidly shifting political landscape.