Network

Closing the digital divide has become a public responsibility, which was made clear during the pandemic when online access became essential for schooling, for working and for accessing health care.

Plus, the USDA is providing $25 million for rural broadband; Pennsylvania offers $20 million worth of devices; Raleigh, N.C., gets a state grant; and more.

A grant of nearly $3.8 million from the Nebraska Capital Projects Fund will deliver fiber optics to a 70-square-mile area around Stromsburg and southwest Osceola. It includes 176 homes deemed “unserved” by fiber.

The California Public Utilities Commission has awarded $45 million in grant funding to three regional Internet service providers, the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership announced recently.

The county has received nearly $700,000 from the state Completing Access to Broadband program. With matching money from the county, the money should enable 915 businesses and homeowners to access high-speed Internet.

State regulators shot down an unpopular proposal by AT&T to scrap landline service for much of California, which critics say strips some residents of a communications lifeline during emergencies.

Plus, more initial proposals for BEAD funding have been approved, census data reveals insights on the digital divide, and more.

The Syracuse City Council is considering resolutions to let it use a $10.8 million state grant to build out infrastructure, bringing Surge Link broadband to about 4,700 low-income households.

The money, to be disbursed over the next five years, was activated by National Telecommunications and Information Administration approval of the state’s high-speed Internet spending plan.

The economic development corporation in the county has worked with county GIS, an area planning board and the state to push out high-speed Internet to roughly 4 percent of households without it.

Plus, Indiana is getting more than $81 million in broadband funding, new research suggests AI is directly related to digital equity, and more.

The county, southwest of Minneapolis-St. Paul, will use $1 million of the $2.5 million in federal funding to expand broadband access countywide. Among other work, its Sheriff’s Office will get $500,000 for records management.

A study by the Bureau of Sociological Research found the vast majority of 1,450 Nebraskans surveyed considered their home Internet service to be very reliable. But where they lived played a large role in their answers.

After delays in permitting, construction has started on the $50 million Vexus Fiber network. The company and city reached a franchise agreement in March 2022, and installation is expected to be fully completed during the next three years.

City Hall and the Ohio city’s offices at Erieview Tower were closed for a second day on Tuesday, but officials have released few details on what may have occurred. The incident came to light via normal operations of city IT, a spokeswoman said.

Google Fiber has picked the North Carolina area for trials of its inaugural 20-gigabit Internet service. Commenced April 12, installations cost $250 a month and come from the company’s GFiber Labs division.

Plus, Washington launched a digital equity dashboard, Kansas announced funding for digital literacy, a Center for Tribal Digital Sovereignty was launched, and more.

Officials plan accurate speed tests to determine where high-speed Internet is lacking — and where best to deploy federal funding. The state is due to receive nearly $1.2 billion in Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment funding.