Community Broadband Media Roundup - February 24

California

California’s broadband fund ignores fiber and favors slow DSL by Ernesto Falcon, EFF

The California legislature needs to fix CASF and convert it into a fiber infrastructure fund focused on upgrading Californian communities into the 21stcentury. To do so, the legislature needs to amend the broadband standard for eligible projects to 100 mbps download by 100 mbps upload with low latency and establish that as the new goal by deleting the DSL standard.

Colorado

Bayfield moves toward improved broadband plan by Shannon Mullane, Herald

Illinois

USDA invests $3.4 million in broadband for rural Illinois communities, USDA

Iowa

Waterloo, Cedar Falls Utilities fear new broadband rules by Tim Jamison, The Courier 

Maine

Big telecom say it has first amendment right to sell your private data by Karl Bode, Vice 

Last June, Maine passed a new law intended to protect broadband user privacy. The law demands ISPs clearly disclose what data is collected and who it’s sold to, requiring that users opt in to the sale of sensitive location or financial data. The law also bans ISPs from charging you extra if you want your privacy protected, a practice AT&T engaged in for years.

New Hampshire

NH law could hasten local broadband buildout by Adam Sullivan, WCAX 3 

Tennessee 

USDA invests $9 million in broadband for rural Tennessee communities, USDA

General

America’s monopoly problem, explained by your Internet bill by Emily Stewart, Vox

In the US, however, just a few big companies, often without overlap, control much of the telecom industry, and the result is high prices and uneven connectivity. In 2018, Harvard law professor Susan Crawford examined the case of, what do you know, New York City in an article for Wired. The city was supposed to be “a model for big-city high-speed internet,” she explained

Broadband consumption continues explosive growth, POTs and PANs 

The FCC’s new initiative punishes states that have tried to close the digital divide by Jenna Leventoff, Public Knowledge 

The vast undercount of gaps in American Internet access by Linda Poon, MSN 

The road to gigabit connectivity for every anchor and community by John Windhausen, SHLB