For thousands of Texans living in the Rio Grande Valley, the so-called "last mile" — that stubborn final leg of a broadband Internet network that reaches a residential neighborhood — can seem endless.
Commissioners in Franklin County, Maine, will commit $100,000 from the county’s undesignated fund to an IT reserve fund. During the next 18 months, plans are to migrate a computer server onto the county’s cloud network.
More than 23 million low-income households are enrolled in a federal discount program that is expected to run out of money in April or May, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
Due to a lack of funding, the FCC recently froze enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program, announcing that it will only be fully funded through the month of April.
Plus, the FCC is preparing for a vote that could restore rules around net neutrality, state digital equity plans are continuing to be accepted, and more.
Two companies in Cleveland, Ohio, are partnering to offer immersion cooling for data centers, submersing servers in large tanks of specialized liquid. The process aims at two pain points: the need for effective cooling and the cost of electricity.
Plus, a mapping tool helps inform the permitting process, tribes in New Mexico get $10 million for digital equity, and more.
City councilmembers in Aurora, Ill., this week approved spending nearly $1.4 million to grow the network to additional parts of its water system. The work will wrap an accelerated fiber expansion to water locations begun in 2022.
Minnesota cities are asking the Legislature for power to slap Internet providers with new fees, an idea they say will lead to more broadband while helping to pay for basic government access programming.
Plus, stakeholders continue to push for more ACP funding as the program winds down, Connecticut releases $41 million for broadband, and San Antonio is supporting small businesses with digital skills training.
