WASHINGTON, March 16, 2018 – Questions about how the federal government will be involved in rolling out the next-generation infrastructure for wireless, known as 5G (for 5th generation) remained after a Wednesday infrastructure hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee. “With the rise of the internet and cell phones, we face the new challenge of building… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 22, 2018 – A leaked document purporting to be an outline of the Trump Administration’s forthcoming infrastructure plan makes few provisions for broadband or other digital infrastructure outside of rural areas. The six-page outline, which was first reported by Axios, bears the title of “Funding Principles,” and sets out four programs which will… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: In a significant new development, the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration outlines a process for how states will be able to receive funding to build their own public safety wireless networks that are separate and apart from FirstNet. The far, approximately 35 of the 50 states have opted-in to FirstNet. Colorado and… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: We've been enjoying our participation in this webinar series of the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration. It has now run for one year. However, the webinar series is taking a break for the month of August, so don't expect an event this Wednesday! BroadbandUSA presents a webinar on the… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, August 1, 2017 — President Donald Trump is committed to moving an infrastructure bill this year despite making little legislative progress towards on other policy goals, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Monday. “The President has been very outspoken on the need for a massive overhaul to the country's infrastructure system,”… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 28, 2017 – At a Wednesday confirmation hearing for Peter Davidson to be general counsel of the Department of Commerce and others, Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Florida, said the country needed data-driven leadership. Chairman John Thune, R-South Dakota, introduced Davidson and the other nominees. Davidson was senior vice president of… Keep Reading
You are invited to join NTIA’s BroadbandUSA team today for a webinar discussing: Strategies for Broadband Adoption and Digital Inclusion in Rural Communities Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2017 Time: 2:00pm ET Overview: This webinar will focus on strategies to promote broadband adoption and digital inclusion in rural communities highlighting the role of libraries and university… Keep Reading
DALLAS, April 18, 2017 - Over the past ten years, broadband mapping has gone through many changes. In the beginning, the Federal Communications Commission collected data about high-speed internet access, but didn't release any local or granular data collected through its semi-annual forms. Through the efforts of organizations like BroadbandCensus.com (the predecessor to BroadbandBreakfast.com), a… Keep Reading
Broadband Breakfast Insight: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is continuing its efforts to ensure good-quality broadband data, even as broadband policy remains undertain under the incoming presidential administration. These steps will ensure a good foundation. Building Our Next Internet Use Survey January 09, 2017 by Rafi Goldberg, Policy Analyst, Office of Policy Analysis and… Keep Reading
MOUNTAIN VIEW, California - Local broadband institutions seeking to leverage high-speed connectivity for the benefit of their broader communities will benefit from attending the inaugural AnchorNETS conference here on November 16 and 17.
Sponsored by the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, the AnchorNETS conference is being hosted in conjunction with the federal government's BroadbandUSA initiative on Tuesday, November 17. The AnchorNETS event will be keynoted by former Gov. Pat Quinn, the Illinois Democrat responsible for completion of a nearly $100 million, four-year project to install 1,000 miles of fiber-optic infrastructure throughout Illinois. “Governor Quinn's role in bringing together state, federal and local resources, from private and public sectors, in the pursuit of improved digital literacy and internet connectivity to Illinois anchor institutions is a model for all public officials," said John Windhausen, executive director of SHLB Coalition.
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WASHINGTON, September 16, 2015 - State broadband entities and commissions continue to plan an important role in fostering economic development and digital learning, according to a recent report from the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy.
The report, "State-Level Broadband Policy: A Compendium of Resources and Approaches," catalogs some of the important capabilities and tools of the federal technology program dubbed the State Broadband Initiative of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
But the report, by Pell Center Adjunct Fellow Angela Siefer, also advances the discussion about state-level broadband resources by highlighting more recently discussed tools, including eRate funding, telecommunications modernization legislation, and ways to promote local infrastructure partnerships.
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June 8, 2015 - Some are calling it a second "broadband moment." More than six years after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was responsible for more than $7 billion in federal funds being spent on broadband infrastructure, internet adoption and telecommunications mapping, there's a new level of interest in re-vising the National Broadband Plan,… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, May 18, 2015 - More than five years after the unveiling of the National Broadband Plan, policy-makers and on-the-ground-advocates seeking to build better broadband networks will convene here this week at the annual conference of the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition.
The conference, "Enhancing Broadband Through Innovation, Investment and Inclusion," has become the regular Washington gathering point for those engaged in public broadband initiatives.
Among the keynote and plenary sessions at this year's conference include addresses by Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, former Virginia Gov. and Sen. George Allen, plus Mayor Jill Boudreau of Mount Vernon, Washington.
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AUSTIN, April 14, 2015 - The official from the Federal Communications Commission responsible for the agency's unique "rural broadband experiment" on Monday said the experiment was less about learning than about teaching the rural telecom industry that it can do better.
Speaking on panel at the Broadband Communities Summit here, Jonathan Chambers, chief of the Office of Strategic Planning at the FCC, said: "I wanted to teach certain people in Washington that we could do better than 4 megabits per second (Mbps) down and 1 Mbps up [in broadband speeds.]" [...]
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Editor's Note: The final report from the NTIA, released today, April 13, 2015, on the broadband infrastructure game, and the benefit that broadband has on economic development. Over the past five years through our national broadband grant program, NTIA has seen first-hand the economic and societal impact that broadband has on communities across the country.… Keep Reading
April 13, 2015 - Attention on the significance of community-based Gigabit Networks rose dramatically when President Obama included an announcement about the importance of community broadband networks in his State of the Union address in January, and in remarks in Cedar Falls, Iowa, one week before the speech.
At the same time, the White House also released a report of its own on community-based broadband solutions, which highlighted the growing demand for Gigabit Networks, and also focused on some of the laws that restrict municipalities' involvement in broadband.
Somewhat overlooked in the process, however, was an important report released on January 14 by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
In a blog post that day, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling recapped the investments of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program: Upgrading 113,000 miles of fiber, and connecting 25,000 community anchor institutions.
The Commerce Department also released an important 16-page report, "BroadbandUSA: An introduction to effective public-private partnerships for broadband investments," that bears re-examination. [...]
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Editor's Note: The following blog post was published by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the Department of Commerce on January 14, 2015. See BroadbandBreakfast.com's take on the significance of these report at http://broadbandbreakfast.com/2015/04/important-but-overlooked-ntia-report-highlights-best-practices-for-public-private-partnerships-on-gigabit-networks/. Over the past five years, we at NTIA have seen first-hand through our broadband grant program the power of broadband to… Keep Reading
Expanding the Benefits of Broadband in Mississippi February 11, 2015 by NTIA The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s BroadbandUSA team convened a productive workshop in Jackson, Miss., last week to explore ways to close the digital divide in a state that continues to expand broadband connectivity and adoption. The event was the second in a… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, October 29, 2014 – Small business owners, teachers, librarians and representatives broadband industry official gathered at the 2014 Michigan Broadband Conference in the city of Lansing on Wednesday to discuss affordable and innovative ways to enhance Michiganians’ internet access. The conference was hosted by Connect Michigan, a Michigan subsidiary of the non-profit national group… Keep Reading
SALT LAKE CITY (Oct. 28, 2014) – Kirton McConkie PC is pleased to announce that Drew Clark has joined as of counsel in the firm’s Telecommunications Practice Group. He joins shareholder David J. Shaw in this new practice area for the firm, which focuses on assisting state and local governments in deploying broadband infrastructure to support economic development. [...] Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, October 20, 2014 – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said that he and President Barack Obama agree in their opposition to paid prioritization, Multichannel News reported. Obama stated his objection to the practice during his remarks at an innovation forum in California on October 9. Although the two haven’t discussed it directly, Wheeler… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, October 13, 2014 - As technology permeates society, students are growing more comfortable with learning in the technology medium. Whether it's organizing tables in Microsoft's Excel, learning design software, or computer programming, there are increasingly fewer excuses to avoid technology. Tech giants like Microsoft, Autodesk, Apple and Prezi are embracing this rapid evolution and… Keep Reading
September 5, 2014 - The agency responsible for articulating President Obama's communications policy is taking its campaign to promote community broadband initiatives on the road, and on Thursday in Minneapolis hosted its second workshop on the topic. The event, "Building a Community Broadband Roadmap," featured remarks by Glenn Reynolds, chief of staff at the U.S.… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2014 – The internet equity facing the nation isn’t the digital divide, but is digital readiness, according to a panel last month by internet researcher John Horrigon at an event of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. According to Horrigan, digital literacy is rapidly overshadowing non-adoption.A half-decade ago in 2009, 83 million… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, May 30, 2014 - The president's chief adviser on telecommunications, the head of the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, on Thursday heralded the first of a series of workshops designed to find ways to "build on the momentum of our successful broadband grant program" without access to federal funds. In a blog… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, May 6, 2014 - Efforts to construct Gigabit Networks will be featured prominently at the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition meeting this week in Washington, the fourth annual event for this community of broadband users. The even will run from Wednesday, May 7 through Friday, May 9. Registration and the agenda for the event… Keep Reading
AUSTIN, Texas, April 4, 2014 - Next week, at the Broadband Communities Summit here in Austin, the Rural Telecommunications Congress will take center stage with a series of sessions on "The Bandwidth of the States," "Financing Future Bandwidth," "Digital Learning in the Classroom," "Rural Innovation," and -- as a kicker -- "Cool Things Rural Communities Are… Keep Reading
January 23, 2014 - This press release come over the wire from the Internet Innovation Alliance: Ten years after he founded the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) alongside still-Co-Chair Bruce Mehlman, Larry Irving this month returns to the coalition, the IIA today announced. In 2009, Irving stepped down from his role with IIA to join Hewlett… Keep Reading
December 17, 2013 - The Broadband Breakfast Club released the video of its webinar earlier today, on "Evaluating the Broadband Stimulus Program: Were Funds Well Spent?" Keep Reading
December 11, 2013 - The next week includes a variety of broadband-related events, both in Washington and elsewhere in the country. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 11, 2013 – The Broadband Breakfast Club announced that it will host a free, online webinar on Tuesday, December 17, 2013, at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT, on “Evaluating the Broadband Stimulus Program: Were Broadband Technology Opportunities Program Funds Well-Spent?” In a session moderated by Drew Clark, Chairman and Publisher of BroadbandBreakfast.com, Gregory Rosston, Scott Wallsten and John Windhausen will debate the Technology Policy Study in the webinar on December 17. Register today! [more ...] Keep Reading
Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition Finds Fault with Study Critiquing Broadband Technology Opportunities Program WASHINGTON, November 18, 2013 - The Technology Policy Institute issued a report on Thursday criticizing the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). Unfortunately, the report reflects a misunderstanding of the purpose of that program. The Technology Policy Institute study of BTOP mischaracterizes… Keep Reading
November 15, 2013 - Nevada has only two metropolitan areas (Las Vegas and Reno), 80 percent of its land owned by the federal government, and no fiber-optic wires that connect the two cities, said the head of the state's non-profit broadband initiative. A deeply rural demography and highly remote geography present some tough obstacles for… Keep Reading
October 18, 2013 - With several state broadband entities hosting summits in the remainder of October, the Broadband Breakfast Club is hosting its next webinar on the topic of "Upcoming State Broadband Summits: Michigan, Utah and Others Bring Intenet Knowledge and Practice For Economic Development" on Tuesday, October 22, at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT. REGISTER NOW for the Broadband Breakfast Club Webinar Keep Reading
October 18, 2013 - State Broadband Initiative entities have played the lead role in mapping high-speed internet services in their respective states. Now, these entities are also taking the lead to convene, connect and collaborate among broadband stakeholders. Several states will be hosting broadband technology summits in the coming weeks, including Utah, Michigan, Oregon, Wyoming… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 18, 2013 - There are 3.79 million square miles in the United States, and the federal government controls 30 percent of that land. This vast swathe of federally controlled land is roughly equivalent to the combined size of Alaska, California, Texas and Montana. So when a White House task force unveils a guide that lays out the… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 18, 2013 – Demonstrating a thoroughness in following through on its broadband policy initiatives, the Obama administration on Monday highlighted the launch of several new broadband tracking tools. These tools including interactive asset maps, a web-based dashboard focusing on access to rights of way, and a series of best practices for “dig once”… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 17, 2013 - The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced that a special meeting of the FirstNet Board would be held on Monday, September 23, at 10:30 a.m. ET. The Special Meeting will be held on September 23, 2013, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The times and dates are… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 17, 2013 - The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced that it would convene a meeting of stakeholders from the education, technology, and government sectors to share ideas, discuss policies, and consider promising strategies for achieving the President’s goal of connecting virtually all K-12 students in the United States to next-generation… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 17, 2013 - The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday urged the Federal Communications Commission take action to permit consumers to “unlock” their cellular phones. The Obama administration is urging the agency to allow consumers to purchase and make use of any wireless provider's service with any cellular device, provided that the consumer is… Keep Reading