Broadband

New Mexico's office for broadband deployment has received the green light to move forward on a project that will use $675 million in federal grants to help connect more than 31,000 locations across the state.

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program has seen significant advances in 2024, and its program director expects this path will continue in 2025 under a new presidential administration.

The county has pledged the contribution of funds after winning a longshot bid for a state grant toward the endeavor. The state will contribute $26.1 million through its ConnectALL Municipal Infrastructure Grant Program.

Plus, the Federal Communications Commission is pushing for greater network security measures after a cyber attack, additional funding has been awarded through the Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, and more.

Officials in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin and Tulare counties are asking why the San Joaquin Valley received just 6.6 percent of the first $804 million California gave out to increase access to affordable broadband.

Plus, Kansas will soon open funding applications to expand connectivity, a Colorado county is receiving federal funding for broadband, the economic benefits of improving Internet access in Harlan County, Ky., and more.

The State Transportation Board has picked a private-sector collaborator to handle maintenance, operations and commercialization as it builds out 1,400 miles of high-speed Internet infrastructure on all Georgia interstates.

The federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Act came with billions to invest in broadband nationwide, for rural areas, schools and businesses. Application requirements and other mandates, however, threaten to constrain the deployment of high-speed Internet.

Plus, more states have been awarded federal funding from the Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, and the city of Boulder, Colo., has announced a new partnership to expand community broadband.

The Columbia County town of nearly 3,000 got high-speed Internet last week with the completion of a broadband fiber-optic line. Residents and officials realized the impact a lack of high-speed Internet was having during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Boulder City Council has unanimously approved a long-awaited agreement that will eventually empower the rollout of citywide broadband. Officials signed off on letting ALLO Communications LLC lease part of the city’s fiber backbone for 20 years.

Plus, the industry reacts to a new Federal Communications Commission chairperson, a North Carolina partnership with 211 aims to connect people to information in an emergency, and more.

Great Bend Unified School District 428 in Kansas plans to use E-rate funds to upgrade the district's Internet bandwidth and put Wi-Fi on school buses. It also intends to apply for the FCC's new cybersecurity program.

The North Star for the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program is comprehensive connectivity for all homes and businesses, officials said at the Connecting Communities Summit. That could come through fiber or fixed wireless.

A former federal telecommunications official said it is unlikely Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program funding will be clawed back and work disrupted. Infrastructure could, however, become more tech-neutral.

Plus, Oregon announces more than $100 million in funding for broadband, more states have been awarded federal funding, a new report aims to support nonprofit organizations in their digital equity work, and more.

Buoyed by a $102,000 state grant, a City Council working group on digital equity is helping develop a plan to ensure improved access to technology. Officials are also working with residents on a digital equity plan.

The Communications and Information Technology Committee approved three pacts, selecting the vendor that will engineer 170 miles of network to expand broadband citywide. Officials also approved a maintenance agreement, and one to connect homes and businesses in a pilot area.