Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced plans "for a pilot program to bring broadband internet to all of rural America." The plan "will provide $600 million in grants and loans to internet service providers to bring connection to parts of the country that are too remote, underpopulated or expensive to service." While most of the projects will bring internet connection to paying customers at homes or businesses, "19 proposals have laid out plans to build community centers where residents could access the internet free of charge," which Secretary Perdue acknowledged was necessary when he announced the pilot program.
Legislature looks to bring broadband to rural ‘black holes’
Areas like Keller, WA, which are known as "black holes" in the internet world, are the targets of a broadband proposal announced Wednesday by Gov. Jay Inslee during a press conference in Olympia. If the Legislature signs on, it could mean a new state broadband office within the Wa...
Broadband expert says USDA shutdown is hurting rural internet expansion
Through its Rural Utilities Service program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides rural development grants to municipalities and local governments applying to expand or construct broadband infrastructure, and the agency invested $228 million last year across 22 states. But ...
San Jose, 100 cities, Cos. sue FCC over broadband power grab
With a broad boost from U.S. Reps. Anna G. Eshoo and Jackie Speier (D-Palo Alto, Hillsborough), a large coalition of Western cities and counties are waging a legal showdown with a shuttered federal government in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals over control of 5G wireless installa...
State rules on wireless antennas would strip local control, say city officials
The Georgia General Assembly is expected to take up a bill this session that would reduce local regulations on the deployment of small cell technology. Kimberly Adams, Crown Castle’s Government Relations Manager for the South Area, worked with the city of Brookhaven on its o...
Loveland will officially bond about $97 million for broadband
By a vote of 6-1, with two councilors absent, the Loveland City Council approved the second reading of an ordinance allowing the city to issue the bonds. Loveland staff will now begin the three-year process to construct a city-wide fiber broadband network that is capable of offeri...
Gov. Reynolds requests $20 million for rural Iowa broadband infrastructure
During the Condition of the State address, Governor Kim Reynolds said she wants to continue to devote Iowa dollars to expanding internet access to all areas of the state. "We have come a long way already. U.S. News & World Report says, 'the Hawkeye State leads the nation in effort...