Thirty states now are now participants in the National Broadband Availability Map (NBAM), a geographic information system (GIS) platform run by the National Telecommunications Industry Association (NTIA). The goal is to create “a national platform that can help inform policymakers…
The NTIA revealed additional details on its Tribal broadband program, officially known as the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). The program will provide up to $1 billion to improve broadband on Tribal lands. According to a recent report from ILSR,…
The Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act, introduced in the House of Representatives yesterday, would make over $100 billion available for broadband initiatives. The majority of the funding — $80 billion – would go toward building broadband infrastructure, primarily rural…
The Universal Broadband Act introduced in the House of Representatives yesterday aims to expand the contribution base from which funding for the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF) program is drawn. The USF, which has four sub-programs, has increasingly been focused…
The Utilizing Strategic Allied Telecommunications Act introduced in the Senate yesterday would provide over a billion dollars for 5G infrastructure development. The goal is to enable U.S. suppliers to offer 5G equipment to compete in the world market against Chinese…
Policymakers continued their assault on broadband map problems yesterday with the introduction of Senate Bill 1822, to be known as the “Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability” or Broadband DATA Act. The bill was sponsored by Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS),…
The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) has updated the interactive rural broadband CAF map originally made public in October. The map shows areas eligible for funding under the Connect America Fund (CAF) program, including those where broadband service already has…
As the Senate gets set for a hearing about broadband map problems, Microsoft offered its ideas about how to fix those problems in a blog post. Ideas include changing the questions that the FCC asks service providers on the form…
Broadband providers hope that the Broadband Mapping Initiative announced today will address problems with the National Broadband Map that have prevented policymakers from determining where broadband service is and is not available nationwide. The initiative, spearheaded by USTelecom – The…
Various government agencies today announced a cross-government strategy to promote broadband deployment — the American Broadband Initiative (ABI). ABI includes streamlining the federal permitting process, leveraging Federal assets to lower the cost of build-outs and maximizing the impact of Federal…
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has begun the process of updating the National Broadband Map, which has received considerable criticism in recent months. The agency said it would work with eight states – California, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina,…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) should consider using a reverse auction to award funding for the $600 million USDA E-connectivity pilot, said FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly in a letter to Christopher McLean, acting administrator of the USDA Rural Utilities…
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