News

In rural communities, large companies often won’t invest in high-quality Internet network infrastructure due to the lack of population density. Increasingly, rural electric and communications cooperatives are filling the void and providing the Internet access small towns and surrounding areas need. In order to illustrate the challenges facing these small rural towns, we’ve developed a series of videos titled, “From Crops to Co-ops: Small Towns Want Better Internet!”

Oakland, Maine, has asked the community to complete a survey in order to obtain a better picture of local connectivity. The town of about 6,300 people is investigating ways to expand how they use their existing publicly owned fiber optic system.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. (October 10, 2019) - The Blandin Foundation, an organization dedicated to strengthening rural Minnesota, awarded Christopher Mitchell with a Blandin Foundation Courageous Leadership Award at their 2019 Broadband Conference.

One of the most respected and well-known organizations dedicated to improving the lives of people in rural Minnesota, the Blandin Foundation, has honored Christopher Mitchell, Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, with the Courageous Leadership Award.

In 2014, West Virginia wrote its Broadband Plan, but since then much has changed in the state, in the country, and with technology.

Municipal networks across the country are providing low-cost connectivity, affordable devices, and digital skills trainings to their communities, bringing the educational, economic, and healthcare benefits of broadband access to more people.

After five years of planning, meetings, and overcoming obstacles, the town of Estes Park has officially launched its Trailblazer Broadband Internet service to pilot neighborhoods.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

The Brattleboro Reformer reports that the town of Brattleboro (pop. 12,100), located in southwest Vermont, has decided to investigate the possibility of developing a regional or municipal project to improve Internet access for residents and businesses.

California

City of Long Beach launches digital inclusion roadmap development process to promote digital equality and inclusion, Signal Tribune 

Colorado 

Executive Director of UTOPIA Fiber Roger Timmerman has been paying attention to the issues that are on people's minds these days in Utah. He's discovered a trend — six of the top ten are issues can be positively impacted by publicly owned fiber optic Internet infrastructure. He tweeted about it:

This week is Digital Inclusion Week, sponsored by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA). As a reader of MuniNetworks.org, you're used to stories about local communities that develop strategies to deploy networks for many reasons, including to improve access to high-quality connectivity.

On the September 30, 2019 edition of NPR's "All Tech Considered," Paul Flahive of Texas Public Radio reports on the way rural electric cooperatives

In Kaysville, Utah, the city is considering establishing a municipal fiber optic utility in the community of approximately 32,000 people. City leaders are considering the utility fee model, to enhance competition, inspire better rates, and encourage innovation in the community.

A Recurring Issue

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mapping has long been criticized for inaccuracies. Now, state and local initiatives are taking up the challenge of poor broadband mapping and developing ways to create their own maps that better reflect the reality of broadband coverage in their communities.

Fixed wireless Internet access from Open Broadband will soon be offered in special pilot areas of Alexander County, North Carolina, reports the Taylorsville Times.

Fourteen years ago, voters in Waterloo, Iowa, overcame a campaign aimed to prevent them from developing publicly owned Internet infrastructure.

Since 2017, AT&T has been called out for digital redlining in Cleveland and Detroit. Now, Dr.

School districts in both urban and rural communities are taking steps to help students stay competitive as technology becomes an integral part of learning. As they develop laptop programs, school districts must also contend with the problem of unaffordable, unreliable, and slow Internet access at students’ homes.

Arizona

More data needed to bridge digital divide, expand high-speed Internet by Laurel Morales, Arizona Public Media 

California

The Blandin Foundation will be holding its 2019 Broadband Conference in October at Grand View Lodge, Nisswa, Minnesota.