In 2016, the California Public Utilities Commission recommended Inyo Networks, a telecomunications company based in California, to help initiate a project to build Nicasio’s broadband service. The commission also granted to city $1.5 million, 60 percent of the total cost for the project, stating that Nicasio landowners had to raise the other 40 percent. Since then, over 50 percent of landowners contributed to the project, which has a scope of 220 customers. As the project has taken off, there are now 80 customers in Nicasio that have broadband service, and that number is expected to double by early spring. The Nicasio project is the first collaborative broadband project in the county, where nearly 4,000 locations had inadequate broadband connections in 2014.
Rep. Anderson files bills to move needle on rural broadband access
Texas State Rep. Charles "Doc" Anderson, R-Waco, filed two bills this legislative session that aim to increase broadband access for people who live where access to reliable internet service is limited, largely in rural areas. The proposals "call for the creation of a broadband off...
FCC spectrum auction tops $1 billion
Only seven business days after it began, the FCC’s 24 GHz spectrum auction "blow past the $1 billion mark Friday (March 22)." The FCC is auctioning the spectrum "to free up more bandwidth for 5G wireless broadband, to help close the rural digital divide, and to make wireless...
City, county join forces to boost Internet access
Palm Coast, FL Mayor Milissa Holland and Flagler County Commissioner Joe Mullins held a meeting to show that the city and county were working together to find solutions to bring high-speed internet to everyone and start a conversation about getting fiber optic cable for the cities...
Crown Castle CEO discusses future of small cells, towers
Jay Brown, president and CEO of Crown Castle, took part in a wide-ranging conversation about wireless infrastructure at the South Wireless Summit in Nashville, Tennessee, in a question-andanswer session with Monica Mosesso, a Crown Castle district manager Tennessee. Some topics co...
Legislative push to boost broadband funding underway
Minnesota’s Commissioner of the Department of Employment and Economic Development urged lawmakers to reinstate the Border-to-Border grant program for rural broadband. At a press conference, Commissioner Steve Grove said legislation currently in the works would put $70 millio...
Microsoft says the FCC 'overstates' broadband availability in the US
Microsoft accused the FCC of over-stating actual broadband availability and urged the agency to do better. In the filing, Microsoft said, "For example, in some areas the Commission’s broadband availability data suggests that ISPs have reported significant broadband availabil...