Nate Denny, the deputy secretary for broadband and digital equity with the N.C. Department of Information Technology Division of Broadband and Digital Equity spoke about broadband expansion.
The damage to an undersea fiber-optic cable happened in the middle of June when sea ice severed the cable, causing Internet and cell outages in several North Slope and Northwest Arctic communities.
Residents of the state will have until Oct. 10 to weigh in on a proposed five-year plan to upgrade broadband Internet availability, reliability and affordability statewide.
Some $386 million in state funding is set to be distributed to counties throughout the state to expand Internet service. The governor has awarded 56 grants totaling more than $196 million from the Broadband Deployment Fund so far.
The San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians and AT&T held a groundbreaking ceremony this week for a project that will expand access to high-speed Internet service to more than 500 new customers in Valley Center, Calif.
Plus, AT&T is opening a center to support digital equity in Miami, Kansas is the latest state to submit its five-year broadband action plan to the federal government, and more.
Experts argue that agencies having staff dedicated to equity and inclusion play an important role for government work, from strategic planning, to operations, to the rise of digital government services.
Since late last year when Starlink Internet became available in Alaska, thousands of residents have signed up at a pace that's exceeding expectations, observers say, even though the signal is not perfect.
Officials are asking residents to answer a survey about access to broadband Internet. Information collected will help identify areas where infrastructure does not exist or where service does not meet the minimum speed standards.
During a National Digital Inclusion Alliance webinar last week, experts explored several key tools and dashboards that help make data on the Affordable Connectivity Program more accessible to drive action.
