Broadband

With a large amount of funding on the way, the Public Service Commission is urging Wisconsin’s residents and businesses to badger the FCC by verifying the accuracy and submitting challenges.

If the Texas school district's partnership with the city of Pharr is approved, it could bring more affordable high-speed Internet to schools and fuel applications for more grants for regional broadband projects.

Plus, New York reaches a critical milestone in its ongoing broadband connection efforts; Colorado offers more broadband grants; the NTIA highlights 40 local government digital inclusion resources; and more.

During a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing titled “Ensuring Solutions to Meet America’s Broadband Needs,” witnesses testified that barriers must be addressed for federal funding to see its target impact reached.

Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and federal broadband officials will host a virtual discussion for input on the design of new broadband maps that accurately capture where dead spots must be addressed.

According to the Internet information tool Connect K-12, 376 Ohio school districts have Internet speeds that fall below the Federal Communication Commission's baseline requirement of 1 Mbps per student, set in 2020.

The Federal Communications Commission released its updated National Broadband Map last month and West Virginia officials are asking residents to log on and report inaccuracies about their Internet service.

The company announced this week that it was bringing Fios fiber Internet to Worcester customers, as well as some of the surrounding towns. The new service will encompass more than 75,000 homes.

Telecom companies serving five Minnesota counties are set to receive $100 million in federal grants to bring new high-speed Internet to more than 33,000 Minnesota rural homes and businesses.

With federal broadband funding hanging in the balance, state and federal officials are urging residents to verify their Internet access status. The information will help identify underserved areas in need of service expansion.

Rural parts of the state that lack reliable Internet connections are hopeful the recent award of $65 million in American Rescue Plan Act money will expand service in their areas. The state Legislature accepted the funding last week.

Plus, a new ITIF report compares the U.S. broadband landscape with the rest of the world; a congressional broadband oversight effort is announced; Providence, R.I., has a new broadband coordinator; and more.

City officials say the recent request for proposals to build a fiber broadband network has seen significant interest from Internet service providers. The deadline for proposals is the end of the week.

The city’s approach to digital equity involves several different programs and partnerships managed through the Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs office. This work has helped to solidify the region as a tech capital.

A new partnership between EPB and California-based Qubitekk will allow private companies, government and university researchers to test quantum equipment and applications in an established fiber-optic environment.

The funding comes from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program that was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and will go toward extending service in underserved parts of the state.

Plus, new bipartisan legislation at the federal level is taking aim at increasing access to rural broadband, Pennsylvania is working to expand broadband across the entirety of the commonwealth, and more.

State and local efforts to expand residential broadband to 53 un- and underserved communities have now brought full service to 44 of them and partial services to the others. The state also announced several new initiatives.