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After Decades Of Talk, Palo Alto Drives Forward On Municipal Fiber Build
For over 20 years, the city of Palo Alto, the "Birthplace of Silicon Valley,” has flirted with the idea of building a city-owned municipal fiber network. Now after years of debate, numerous studies, several false starts, and many unfulfilled RFPs, city officials say they’re finally moving forward with a city-owned fiber network they hope will transform affordable broadband connectivity citywide. Phase One of the city’s planned fiber deployment should begin later this year, delivering fiber access to around 20 percent of the city–or 6,500 homes and businesses.
Waterloo, Iowa Unveils Affordable Pricing For City-Owned Fiber Build
After years of strategizing, Waterloo, Iowa officials unveiled a new website for the city's fiber-to-the-home project and annouced service pricing. The city’s network will cost $115 million, take roughly three years to build, and ultimately deliver affordable fiber access at speeds up to 10 Gbps to all municipal buildings, anchor institutions, and all 67,695 city residents.
Mississippi Electric Cooperative and State Shine BEAM On Rural Delta Region
The establishment of a new broadband office in Mississippi heralds a new era in the state’s efforts to bring high quality broadband to all its residents, especially those living in the most rural parts of the state. On the forefront of that effort is the Delta Electric Power Association, an electric cooperative building out fiber networks in the Mississippi Delta region, where about a quarter of residents do not have access to broadband of any kind.
Central Virginia Electric Cooperative Brings Fiber To 20K Virginians In 52 Months
The Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) and its Firefly Broadband Initiative has successfully completed its $150 million fiber expansion project, having deployed 3,600 miles of new fiber, passed 40,000 total homes and businesses, and directly connecting 20,000 state residents–many for the first time ever–in less than 52 months. About 90 percent of households connected had no broadband access previously.
Open Access Fiber Network Comes to Rural Enclave in Washington
The Whatcom County Public Utility District is now leading the charge in one of the most difficult-to-reach parts of the state in building an open access dark fiber network that will bring high-speed connectivity to over a thousand homes and businesses in Point Roberts.
Tribal Broadband Bootcamp Comes to Saint Regis Mohawk Reservation in Northern New York
As a young woman of the Nuxalk Nation, Mallory Hans is one of about 50 people hailing from various Tribes and First Nations across North America in attendance for the latest Tribal Broadband Bootcamp, hosted at the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort on the Saint Regis Mohawk reservation along the New York/Canada border.
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Edison, New Jersey Nabs $2 Million For City-Owned Fiber Network
Edison, New Jersey is proceeding with the construction of an affordable, gigabit-capable fiber network after receiving $2 million cash infusion from state leaders. The resulting network will be built on the back of decades’ worth of local frustration with the high prices, spotty availability, and slow broadband speeds provided by regional monopolies.
CBN’s Signal to Noise Ratios Week of July 24
In this week’s round-up of broadband news, we culled three stories we think are worth reading. As always we look to separate the signal from the noise.
Activists Say Time Is Right To Renew Fight For Community Broadband In Portland
Portland activists are renewing their calls to prioritize the construction of a municipally owned broadband network in the Oregon city of 635,000. With an historic infusion of federal subsidies and a looming shakeup of city politics, advocates for community-owned broadband say the time is right to finally revolutionize city telecom infrastructure with an eye on affordability.
Superior, Wisconsin Greenlights Open Access Fiber Pilot
Superior, Wisconsin officials have given the green light to the first pilot area for Superior’s new city-owned fiber network. Dubbed Connect Superior, the open access fiber network aims to deliver affordable gigabit access to every resident, community anchor institution and business in the city of nearly 27,000. The initial $2.26 million cost of the pilot will be paid for with the help of $5 million from the city’s $17 million allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act funding.
Municipal Broadband Opposition Campaign in Bountiful, Utah Fails
Bountiful, Utah officials and community broadband advocates are breathing a sigh of relief as the Utah Taxpayers Association’s “Gather Utah” petition to stop the city from building an open-access network in partnership with UTOPIA Fiber fell short. This past Friday was the deadline for “Gather Utah” to collect enough signatures for a petition that would have forced a citywide vote on the $43 million in revenue bonds authorized in May by city councilors to fund network construction.
Dr. Traci L. Morris on Tribal Connectivity and Digital Sovereignty in the Context of BEAD
Last week, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) hosted Dr. Traci L. Morris, Executive Director of the American Indian Policy Institute (AIPI) at Arizona State University for a webinar titled “Indigenous Digital Sovereignty: From the Digital Divide to Digital Equity,” which situated Tribal broadband work and Tribal sovereignty in the context of recent federal funding opportunities like BEAD. Morris’s webinar dug into her own participatory research data investigating the digital divide in Indian Country, which was prompted by a dearth of quality data representing connectivity needs for Native Americans living on Tribal lands.