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 […]

WASHINGTON, Thursday, July 26, 2012 – Last week, the fourth year of the Broadband Breakfast Club Series came to an end with a timely panel on “Bringing Broadband Adoption to the Nation’s Underserved Population.”  Panelists from the private, nonprofit and state government sectors came together to discuss what can be done to promote broadband usage in […]

WASHINGTON, Thursday July 19, 2012.  As part of its July Open Commission meeting, the Federal Communications Commission gave an update of its Measuring Broadband America report.  This follow-up was the result of further collection of data from the over 7,000 measurement devices given to volunteers around the United States, and to show how the initial […]

WASHINGTON February 17, 2011- The National Telecommunications and Information Administration in conjunction with the Federal Communications Commission unveiled the National Broadband Map along with an update to the Digital Nation report this morning. The map is available at http://www.broadbandmap.gov/.

The map is the result of over 2 years of work and $350 million government funding. All 50 states, the District of Columbia and 5 territories provided the NTIA with data. The map brings together 25 million pieces of data to provide consumers, policy makers and business with an accurate picture of broadband deployment and availability. Over 1600 unique internet service providers were identified.

WASHINGTON, June 17, 2010 – Connected Texas, a subsidiary of the national group Connected Nation, held a web conference today to give a demonstration of its new broadband mapping technology. The conference was hosted by Connected Texas Staff Member Wes Kerr, who walked the audience through the demonstration, and fielded questions once it had concluded.

WASHINGTON, June 7, 2010 – Using funds from the Broadband Data Improvement grant North Carolina’s e-NC Authority has undertaken an online survey to determine present usage of high speed broadband internet in the state. The survey has been emailed to over 100,000 potential respondents with a special focus on rural areas and small towns.

WASHINGTON, June 7, 2010 – Early last year, Hawaii’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs was given a $1.9 million grant for its mapping initative. Rather than conduct all of the mapping internally, the DCA has chosen to partner with the New America Foundation, the University of Hawaii and BroadMap.

WASHINGTON, January 13, 2010 – The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Tuesday announced that it has awarded grants to fund broadband mapping and planning activities in Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas under NTIA’s State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program.

With the grants, the NTIA has awarded 51 of the 56 applications: one for every state, plus the district of Columbia and five territories. The NTIA has spent approximately $97 million on the applications, the agency said.

WASHINGTON, January 7, 2009 – The head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Monday urged the Federal Communications Commission to take steps designed to encourage greater competition in the market for high-speed internet access.

In a Monday letter to the FCC as part of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, Assistant Secretary of Commerce Lawrence Strickling urged that “the Internet’s innovation ecosystem is built on, and thus depends upon, a communications infrastructure operating at broadband speeds, with robust bi-directional service.”

The current level of competition is not enough to spur innovation or cause increased investment in broadband, Strickling said.

WASHINGTON, December 31, 2009 – The Commerce Department agency responsible for the mapping component of the broadband stimulus program announced, on the last day of the year, that it had funded five more states’ broadband data programs.

With the announcement – of funding for broadband data and mapping in Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, Utah and the U.S. Virgin Islands – the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has awarded 41 grants totaling $78 million.

There remain 15 awards still to be made – rounding out the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories that submitted applications and are eligible for grant funding.