News

Say hello to our new American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Fellow. In September, Jessica E. Auer will join the CBN team as a postdoctoral fellow to undertake a two-year project that advances policy initiatives in support of expanding broadband access and digital sovereignty for Tribal Nations across the U.S. It’s the second time ACLS has selected ILSR as a host organization for a Leading Edge Fellowship, which embeds humanities and social science PhDs with nonprofits committed “to solve problems, build capacity, and advance justice and equity in society.”

Concerns are mounting that over $2.8 billion in potential broadband grants doled out by the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) could be wasted, further eroding the already well-criticized program’s disjointed effort to expand broadband access across rural America. These issues have not only imperiled RDOF program funding, but have thrown a wrench in the works of numerous additional government efforts to shore up broadband access, from the FCC’s long-criticized quest to accurately map U.S. broadband access, to the implementation of newer grant programs overseen by other agencies.

ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks (CBN) Initiative continues to host Let’s Get Going Broadband Bootcamps across the country. The next two upcoming bootcamps will be held in New Mexico. The in-person, hands-on bootcamps are aimed at helping participants understand broadband and digital equity basics, identify local needs, evaluate options, and chart a path forward.

Inspired by Ammon, Idaho’s heralded open-access fiber network, the city of Eagle, located in the southwestern part of the state and home to 32,000 residents, is now soaring ahead with building its own open-access fiber network to connect city facilities and bring quality broadband to residents and businesses. Meanwhile, the nearby cities of Mountain Home and Emmett are also moving forward with similar projects. Ammon’s open access network has inspired these networks, as well as others nationwide.

In Wisconsin, Republican state lawmakers voted earlier this month to kill Gov. Tony Evers’ plan to invest $750 million of Wisconsin tax dollars to expand high-speed Internet infrastructure across the Badger State. Republicans state lawmakers say the state should wait for Wisconsin’s forthcoming share of the $42.5 billion in federal BEAD funds instead. Meanwhile, Democratic state lawmakers say waiting for BEAD funds would unnecessarily delay the building of vital infrastructure and hurt the state’s economic prospects.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded a $17.5 million grant to NEK Community Broadband (NEK Broadband), providing another shot in the arm for Vermont’s fast-growing collection of Communications Union Districts (CUDs). CUDs continue to play a starring role in Vermont’s efforts to finally conquer the digital divide.

After receiving $50 million in new federal funding, the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC) has begun a major expansion of its fiber network across large swaths of the state, providing many long-frustrated rural residents access to ultra-fast, affordable broadband for the first time ever. In October of last year, NHEC received a $50 million grant from the New Hampshire Business and Economic Affairs Department, made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Tomorrow, June 7, beginning at 3 pm ET, #B4DE promises to offer engaging examples, practical tools, and nuggets of insight as digital equity advocates across the nation prepare to take advantage of unprecedented federal funds and programs spurred by the Digital Equity Act and bipartisan infrastructure bill. National Digital Inclusion Alliance Executive Director Angela Siefer will offer thoughts on what those working to close the digital divide should be prioritizing in this historic moment as states are developing their digital equity plans and getting ready to receive their share of the $42.5 billion contained in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Longmont, Colorado’s NextLight community fiber network isn’t just delivering fast and affordable fiber access to locals, it’s consistently winning awards nationwide. The city-owned network has topped PC Magazine’s Readers’ Choice rankings, which asked readers to rate their satisfaction with their residential broadband providers.

South Carolina’s innovative state broadband map can accurately identify areas of over-reporting by Internet service providers (ISPs). The South Carolina State Broadband Office now performs audits on the ISPs to ensure they are submitting accurate data. The office partnered with broadband data collection company Ookla and integrated speed test data directly into the mapping system

Thanks to a coalition of local digital equity advocates inroads are being made on fixing long-broken California cable franchise law as Digital Equity LA celebrates a major victory in pressuring the California Public Utilities Commission to produce more accurate maps that will be used to determine where the state's broadband funds should be targeted. These efforts come as California is putting its $7 billion broadband expansion plan into place with an eye on boosting competition and driving down consumer costs.

With a new supportive city manager in office, Cambridge city leaders have agreed to continue to investigate the options laid out in a recently published feasibility study. The study found that for Cambridge to construct a financially sustainable citywide fiber network “a significant public contribution would be required” of between $150 and $200 million.

After decades of frustration, Block Island residents are finally getting access to affordable, next-generation broadband. The Island’s freshly-launched BroadbandBI fiber network is not only utterly transformative for island residents, it’s the first municipal owned and operated broadband network in Rhode Island history.

The Port Of Whitman County is one of several rural Washington communities set to nab another major infusion of broadband grants courtesy of federal Covid disaster relief. A fresh infusion of $1.1 million announced last week will help the County expand a five city (Palouse, Garfield, Oakesdale, Tekoa and Rosalia) fiber expansion project to 104 unserved homes.

Our next Building for Digital Equity event is only weeks away. Have you registered yet? Sponsored by UTOPIA Fiber, the June 7 virtual gathering will feature engaged debates on the hottest topics in broadband: the upcoming release of BEAD funds, the challenges with mapping, and looming implications for both urban and rural communities.

Quincy, Massachusetts is moving full speed ahead on a long-percolating plan to bring faster and more reliable broadband to a community long neglected by regional telecom monopolies. If successful, the resulting open access fiber network should dramatically boost competitive options in the city, driving down costs for what many view as an essential utility.

The NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) insists that the 17 state laws that hamper nationwide community broadband deployments won’t delay a massive looming infusion of infrastructure broadband subsidies. But one industry group isn’t so sure. BroadbandNow, a website dedicated to tracking the U.S. broadband industry, issued a report claiming that state restrictions on community broadband networks could delay the delivery of more than $42.45 billion in BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment) grants made possible by the recently-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

Colorado state leaders have voted to eliminate long-criticized state barriers to municipal broadband networks. Community broadband advocates hope it will be a beacon for other states eager to bring more reliable and affordable high-speed Internet service to a market long dominated by monopoly providers. The new Colorado law, made after years of citizen backlash to the counterproductive restrictions, is the latest inflection point in a retreat away from monopoly-backed state laws stifling creative efforts to bridge the digital divide.

The emergence of Broadband Commons and a mission to make broadband data, more accessible to all, both in terms of understanding and using the data. Share a peek into the development of their guidebook: "Introducing Broadband Data."

OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates (OCA) seeks to document the digital access needs of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs). In doing so, they have bumped up against the 'model minority' myth, which obscures the digital access gaps in many AANHPI communities and has likely contributed to the dearth of research investigating AANHPI connectivity needs.