Check out our new addition of the Broadband Action podcast on your favorite platform! In this episode of Broadband Action, CBAN's Jon Willow and Curtis Dean talk with Karl Bode, a journalist who's been covering broadband for 25 years. Karl shares his perspective on the big issues facing the broadband industry and some insight on what further changes may be coming.
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Still time to register and join the conversation!Remember - if you can't join us in person, join us online! We will be livestreaming the entire afternoon to persons who register. Or register and watch the recording at your leisure!
We're polling our members and subscribers - where are you with your digital equity planning? Options include "None" and "I don't know," so don't be afraid if you're still at the trail head. We're just working to understand where everyone is! Responses will first be revealed at next week's Spring Summit!
https://bit.ly/cban-survey24 ALLO Communications, a CBAN provider member, will build fiber-to-the-home in Joplin, Missouri under a development agreement approved by the Joplin City Council this week. Under the agreemeent, ALLO pledges to build fiber throughout the community of 52,000 over the next two years. The City is contributing $5 million of its ARPA allocation toward the project in exchange for "the construction of an additional and redundant CO, a fiber drop to the CIty's anchor institutions, and a buried mainline fiber backbone." Redundancy and resiliency are obvious priorities for Joplin leaders. A tornado in 2011 killed 158 people and caused massive destruction, including big impacts on emergency communications. The City Council approved the ordinance to adopt the agreement on a vote of 8-1.
The clock is ticking rapidly toward the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP. A bipartisan bill to restore $7 billion for the program is langushing in the halls of Congress, and the recent federal budget doesn't even mention it. Is there still hope? This feature in Tuesday's Fierce Telecom newsletter lays out the likelihood of the return of the ACP, and what will need to happen to make that possible.
American states, territories, and indigeous organizations are on the clock to apply for funding to implement their digital equity plans. On March 28th, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released its Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Altogether, $811 million is available for state digital equity programs under this round of funding. Each entity has an allocation based on their size and need. The largest allocation is for the largest state by population - California - at over $70 million. A list of all allocations is available at StateScoop. This is the first wave of digital equity funding. Later, a nationwide competitive grant program will be announced for other entities to seek support for their efforts.
As we make the push toward the 2024 CBAN Spring Summit, the online publication Innovation Iowa put together a great article about CBAN's efforts on digital equity work and our involvement with the National Digital Inclusion Alliance's Digital Navigator program. The article also discusses the 2023 CBAN Impact Report which was released early this year. If you haven't taken a look, CLICK HERE to check it out!
Today, the Benton Institute released the latest version of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Enrollment Performance Tool, which updates data through February 2024 and includes a valuable new feature: the ACP Risk Score for each zip code. This score indicates the degree to which households in a given zip code are at risk of losing or reducing internet connectivity from the ACP benefit lapse. Providers can use this information to understand the impact of ACP termination on their market areas. CBAN would encourage broadband providers and communities to use the tool to help understand the impact that the ACP has had in your community/service area and what it might mean when ACP sunsets at the end of April. As an example, below is a screenshot of the performance for CBAN member Mount Ayr, Iowa, which is one of the communities where CBAN provides digital navigator services. The data shows that Mount Ayr has nearly twice as many ACP enrollees that the predicted average among all communities. 113 households in that zip code will lose their $30 monthly ACP benefit at the end of April.
Last week, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel called on the commission to vote on revised rules to distribute the funds after the program was paused during redrawing of FCC maps. If approved, the plan is to distribute the $9 billion to rural areas that otherwise wouldn’t receive unsubsidized 5G connectivity. Telecommunication companies will be able to bid through multi-round reverse auctions. Of that, $900 million will be used to incentivize the winning bidders to deploy Open RAN technology on the resulting networks. CLICK HERE to read more about the proposal at MSN.com.
CBAN is excited to announce a new partnership with Broadband Communities designed to benefit all CBAN members! Broadband Communities, owned by Total Telecom, has joined CBAN as an Advocate Member, and in exchange CBAN will become an Association Partner and extend a member-only discount on registration to the Broadband Communities Summit in May! Broadband Communities is the leading source of information on digital and broadband technologies for buildings and communities in the USA. Broadband Communities offers in-depth news, expert insights, and practical know-how on the technical, business, financial, and legal aspects of outfitting properties and communities with broadband solutions. Value for CBAN members As part of our new relationship with Broadband Communities, CBAN members will receive a 20% discount on registration to the Broadband Communities Summit on May 6-8, 2024 at The Woodlands near Houston, Texas. That's a savings of nearly $200 off full admission! Later this week we will send an email to each of our CBAN members with additional details about the Broadband Communities Summit and how to take advantage of discounted registration. Be watching your inbox! If you are subscribed to Broadband Bytes but are not yet a CBAN member, now is the perfect time to join! CLICK HERE to learn more about our membership benefits and categories and to fill out a brief application form. Remember, CBAN membership is FREE for broadband providers, communities, and advocates!
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Broadband Bytes NewsPresented by the Community Broadband Action Network and curated by Curtis Dean. Archives
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