Comcast’s $462,123 proposal, which would have connected 96 percent of households in Charlemont, Massachusetts with high-speed internet was rejected by town meeting voters. Instead, Charlemont has decided to build its own fiber optic broadband network. The project funding would come from a combination of local taxation and a state infrastructure grant.
Making connections: State lawmakers introduce bills in attempt to bring better internet access to rural areas
Three Texas state lawmakers "have filed five bills this legislative session to help bring high-speed internet connectivity to those who live in rural areas." Senate Bill 1103 and House Bill 2423 "create a broadband office within the Public Utility Commission of Texas that would pr...
Facebook to launch broadband expansion project in West Virginia
Representatives from Facebook joined West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., to announce a 275-mile fiber optic cable across West Virginia to connect its data centers. The project will enable broadband providers to tap into the fiber line, giving the...
Broadband access 'local economic development issue'
Scott Rudd, director of broadband opportunities in Indianapolis, said the "lack of high speed internet access in some areas of the state has created a sense of urgency." In an interview, Rudd talked about the need for the state’s largest single investment in broadband to dat...
Blunt working for expansion of broadband service in rural Mo.
In Missouri, U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt "spoke of his goal to increase broadband service to rural Missouri…" Sen. Blunt said that 51 percent of rural Missouri does not have broadband service, compared to 35 percent of rural areas nationwide. In his remarks, Sen. Blunt highlighted ...
Rural America will fall further behind without all-fiber broadband infrastructure investment
Lisa R. Youngers, president and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association, published an op-ed in The Hill emphasizing that all Americans "deserve access to ultra-fast broadband service that only all-fiber networks can provide. Expanding all-fiber networks, especially to rural America...
SC continues to invest in telehealth, but internet connections lag
South Carolina is expanding access to telemedicine which is seen as a solution to deteriorating health care services in rural parts of the state. Still though, some 537,000 people in South Carolina don’t have an adequate internet connection at home—about 11 percent of the st...