Broadband

The online arm of Colorado State University has teamed up with the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers to train more broadband infrastructure professionals, aiming to bridge the digital divide in the state.

Broadband consultants reflect on the current state of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, while officials in two states report on their progress in rolling out high-speed Internet.

A digital resource fair hosted by the city’s Community Council is intended to convene service providers, digital experts and community organizations with residents, to look into affordability and access.

The city of Brownsville, Texas, was given that designation in 2014. Since then, officials have made investments to change its status, including supporting the deployment of a fiber network.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $5.2 million in new state grants awarded to Connectivity Innovations projects. The funding is intended to expand mobile service in Nassau, Otsego, Schenectady and Warren counties.

More than 2,000 Xfinity customers lost Internet access early Sunday, and it continued into Monday. Multiple causes were determined including power outages and network damage, and service was being restored.

Big Apple Connect has helped more than 300,000 public housing residents access the Internet and other digital services since its launch. The move reflects other work in the state to expand broadband.

The local government is in line to receive the funding through New York state’s ConnectALL Deployment Program. It will expand Internet access to nearly 1,300 unserved households, businesses and community facilities.

Nearly all locations in the state, or 99.5 percent, can now reach high-speed Internet — and work on the remainder is ahead of schedule, officials said. That includes Smith Island, which now has reliable Internet.

Plus, Puerto Rico is offering free technical training — ranging from cloud computing to AI — through a new partnership, Arlington County, Va., aims to build digital skills with a new navigator program, and more.

More city financing in lieu of federal funding will be sought by Traverse City Light & Power as it reaches the home stretch of its citywide fiber and smart grid expansion project.

The City Council wants a promise from an Internet fiber company that it will leave no neighborhood behind as it expands, and it has delayed granting approvals until it gets an assurance.

The Trump administration's changes to the BEAD Program have disqualified hundreds of thousands of locations — including homes, businesses and community buildings — from receiving Internet access.

Plus, a new Arizona partnership aims to expand Internet access in the state along Interstate 17; Cook County, Ill., is planning a learning symposium event for Digital Inclusion Week; and more.

Orange County and its wireless broadband partner have fallen short of a 2022 promise to deliver higher Internet speeds to all of the rural homes that currently lack reliable service.

Gov. Jeff Landry has written U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, asking if remaining Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment grant money could go to “state-led initiatives” in artificial intelligence and elsewhere.

Plus, Baltimore’s new AI computer lab aims to bring digital skills to the community, stakeholder groups have submitted comments to the FCC on the state of U.S. broadband deployment, and more.

Plus, Hawaii has announced a Digital Aloha Month campaign, California is piloting improvements to an affordable broadband initiative, Santa Barbara launched a digital resource hub, and more.