Editor's Note: The most recent edition of Broadband Communities Magazine features a special section on rural broadband, including this overview piece about the passage of the Agricultural Improvement Act and the ReConnect. Incidentally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's series of webinars on the program continue with events on Tuesday, March 12; Thursday, March 14; and Wednesday,… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 13, 2018 – The Agriculture Department on Thursday unveiled the details of is $600 million broadband loan and grant program – dubbed “ReConnect” – and which was originally called for by appropriations legislation passed in March. “High-speed internet e-Connectivity is a necessity, not an amenity, vital for quality of life and economic opportunity,… Keep Reading
PITTSBURGH, July 31, 2018 - Rural electric cooperatives and not “small cell” deployment powered by 5G networks, may be the solution to closing the digital divide, according to Jonathan Chambers, former chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Strategic Planning. Speaking at the regional conference hosted last week here by Next Century Cities, a… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 30, 2018 -- Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Monday said he is "always hopeful" that progress will be made on President Trump's $1.5 billion infrastructure plan, even as Congress shifts its focus to the upcoming primary election season. "I'm always hopeful," he said when asked about the plan's prospects shortly after a swearing-in… Keep Reading
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
Broadband Breakfast Insight: This is a significant development to see emerging from the House of Representatives, which is generally less focused on rural broadband issues than the Senate. This new measure, the "New Deal Rural Broadband Act," has an array of items, but one significant part appears to be the authorization of the Rural Utility… Keep Reading
PORTLAND, Maine, September 28, 2015 - In the first significant conference following the release of the Broadband Opportunity Council Report and Recommendations, top telecommunications officials from the Obama administration -- including the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture -- will be speaking on Monday in Portland at "Digital New England: A Summit for Regional Broadband Leaders."… Keep Reading
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
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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WASHINGTON, July 30, 2014 - The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Rural Development and Credit held a hearing on coordinating the future of broadband investment. Lang Zimmerman, vice president of Yelcot Telephone Co., a member company of rural broadband association NTCA testified that funding the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service is critical for… 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
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
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, May 20, 2013 - The percentage of Americans with access to broadband speeds of at least 3 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 768 Kilobits per second (Kbps) upload grew from 95 percent in 2010 to 98 percent in 2012, according to a report issued by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The blog… Keep Reading
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… Keep Reading
ARLINGTON, Va., May 25, 2012 – The new national wireless communications network to serve police, firefighters and other “first responders” may provide a new opportunity to extend broadband stimulus-related activity, a top Commerce Department official said Wednesday. Dubbed FirstNet, this new public safety wireless network was mandated in February by Congress. Lawmakers allocated up to $7 billion that will be dispensed to state entities under the coordination of a new, independent organization at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. States should act fast to develop plans to utilize funding, said Assistant Secretary of Commerce Larry Strickling, who administers the NTIA. “One of the issues [in FirstNet] is how does coverage from this network get into rural areas?” [more...] Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, Friday March 23, 2012 – On Tuesday March 20th federal regulatory administrators, state health and broadband officials and private health IT and technology experts met in Washington to discuss “Maximizing US Health IT and Broadband Investment” at BroadbandBreakfast.com’s monthly breakfast and panel discussion. In the session, the speakers agreed that there is both humanitarian and… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, Wednesday November 15, 2011 - November’s breakfast and panel discussion drew a packed crowd Tuesday morning as industry lawyers, lobbyists and experts filed into Clyde’s to hear from the Whitehouse, telecoms, energy management companies and utilities about the challenges and efficiencies that lies ahead with “The Smart Grid and Broadband.” Event Highlights "The Smart Grid and Broadband" from BroadbandBreakfast.com Complete Program "The Smart Grid and Broadband" from BroadbandBreakfast.com Nick Sinai, Senior Advisor to White House’s Chief Technology Officer gave the opening remarks at the breakfast. Sinai focused on what the Obama administration is doing to support, secure and modernize the energy system for the country. He noted that although the current grid has expanded, it is fundamentally still an analog grid and has been that way since the beginning of the 20th century. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, October 21, 2011 – Rural broadband providers, national union members, federal agency officials and state broadband administrators squared off on Tuesday at the Broadband Breakfast Club’s keynote and panel presentations on “Bringing Broadband Infrastructure to Rural Areas: Where is the Progress?” Event Highlights
Highlights from "Bringing Broadband Infrastructure to Rural Areas: Where is the Progress?" from BroadbandBreakfast.com
Complete Program"Bringing Broadband Infrastructure to Rural Areas: Where is the Progress?" from BroadbandBreakfast.com
Keep ReadingWASHINGTON, Thursday, October 13th, 2011 – The internet and intellectual property policy news and events service BroadbandBreakfast.com will hold its October 2011 Broadband Breakfast Club event: “Bringing Broadband Infrastructure to Rural Areas: Where is the Progress?” on Tuesday, October 18th 2011 at Clyde’s of Gallery Place, 707 7th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001 from 8… Keep Reading
If it were a piece of classical music, the “study” by Navigant Economics’ Jeffrey Eisenach and Kevin Caves could easily be titled “Variations on a False Narrative in the key of F.” They claim, after a review of three (count ‘em, 3) of the hundreds of broadband grants, the broadband stimulus cost too much for too little ROI. The most misleading of the claims, though, is the alleged $349,234 spent per un-served household. Well, I should say the $7 million per un-served household, but I’ll come back to that in a bit. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON June 17, 2011 – In a 221-198 vote, the House voted on Thursday to approve an amendment to the Agriculture appropriations act, would will reinstate funding for the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to continue the Broadband Loan Program. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 4, 2011 - The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing and passed draft legislation Friday that would require unused and returned broadband stimulus funds be returned to the U.S. Treasury, but subcommittee Democrats called the bill "duplicative" of policies already in place. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON March 22, 2011-The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, a rural telecommunications association, kicked off their Legislative and Policy Conference Monday with a speech by National Telecommunications and Information Administration Administrator Lawrence Strickling. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, October 22, 2010 - Now that all of the broadband stimulus funding has been distributed, its effectiveness can now be evaluated. That was the message at the Broadband Breakfast Club on Tuesday, October 19. Video of the event was released on Friday. While the long term value of the stimulus is still unknown, panelists were able to gauge the way in which the funds were distributed. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, August 16, 2010- New Mexico entities received a $10.6 million broadband stimulus grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and support for a $63.8 million project from the Rural Utilities Service of the Department of Agriculture. The NTIA grant will be given to North Central New Mexico Economic Development District to deploy a middle-mile project across three counties and five tribal areas. The project will directly serve 123 community anchor institutions, 19,227 homes and 1,332 businesses. "Middle mile" projects aim to expand the availability of broadband interconnections to companies and organizations that offer service to end-users. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 15, 2010- The National Association of Telecommunications and Advisors (NATOA) and the National Association of Counties have sent a letter to Senators Reid, Durbin, Inouye, Rockefeller and Kerry urging them to prevent the House from rescinding broadband funding. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 18, 2010 - BroadbandBreakfast.com on Friday released, for FREE, the full-length video of the Broadband Breakfast Club event on June 15, 2010: "Challenges to Rural Broadband Availability and Adoption," featurng a keynote address by Jonathan S. Adelstein, Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service. The event is available on BroadbandBreakfast.com at the following link. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 15, 2010- Broadband adoption is a multifaceted and complex issue which involves a number of stakeholders and was the subject of the second panel at the Broadband Policy Summit VI. The panel consisted of representatives from organizations that advocate on the behalf of the elderly, rural Americans, and low income Americans. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 9, 2010 –The US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) has just released a report that outlines the first round of Broadband Initiatives Program grants from the stimulus package last year. During a conference call with the press USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack stated that more than $1 billion has been awarded to 68 projects in 31 states. In these 68 investments, broadband service was brought to approximately 530,000 residents, 93,000 businesses, and 3,300 anchor institutions, such as schools, libraries, hospitals, and other community centers. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 9, 2010 - BroadbandBreakfast.com announced that Jonathan S. Adelstein, Administrator of RUS will keynote its June 15th Broadband Breakfast Club event, "Challenges to Rural Broadband Availability and Adoption." Registration for the event is available at http://broadbandbreakfast.eventbrite.com. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 8, 2010 –Jonathan Adelstein, Director of the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), recently sat down for an interview with C-SPAN’s “The Communicators” series. The interview covered a wide range of topics, mostly concerning the role of the Rural Utilities Service in bringing broadband access to previously inaccessible areas through grants and loans. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 8, 2010 - The elements of an organized broadband system at the state level will vary depending upon geographic and economic characteristics. Urban and more populous areas will require middle-mile infrastructure to serve larger institutions, while existing last mile coverage may be adequate. Secondary and rural markets may require less extensive institutional capacity, while last mile coverage remains unacceptable. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 23, 2010 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday announced broadband infrastructure projects to give rural residents in eight states access to better economic and educational opportunities. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 8, 2010 - The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners on Monday urged the Treasury Department to clarify the tax implications for the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. NARUC criticized the Commerce Department and the Agriculture Department for failing to clarify whether Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program grants, Broadband Infrastructure Program grants, and broadband mapping grants are taxable. Keep Reading
LAKE FOREST, Ill., March 3, 2010 - On Tuesday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced a brief delay for some applicants for broadband stimulus grants. Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program Comprehensive Community Infrastructure projects will have until March 26th to file their applications to NTIA. Applicants for Rural Utilities Service infrastructure projects will have until March 29th to file their applications to RUS. But applicants for Applications in NTIA's two other project categories - Public Computer Centers and Sustainable Broadband Adoption - remain due on March 15th. As regards these latter category of applications, we have found that there are three essential elements in the design and implementation of an effective broadband adoption program for seniors living in senior housing communities and for their surrounding neighborhoods. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 17, 2010 - The two branches of the government responsible for doling out grants and loans to improve the nation’s broadband connections announced on Jan. 15 revised parameters for their second round of funding. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 13, 2010 – The snowstorm that shut much of Washington down this past week will not change the due date for Round 2 broadband stimulus applications, nor will it delay the naming of Round 1 winners, federal officials said Friday. Speaking at a “Broadband Stimulus Town Hall Workshop Webcast,” National Telecommunications and Information Administration Senior Advisor Angela Simpson assured the panelists that the Commerce Department does not believe that the March 15 due date for Round 2 stimulus applications is in jeopardy. Rural Utilities Service Deputy Administrator Jessica Zufolo said that the agency has dedicated $300 million in Round 1 awards, and is on target for its end-of-February deadline for making awards public. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 8, 2010 - The NTIA/RUS Round Two Public Workshop scheduled for Tuesday, February 9, 2010, in Blacksburg, Virginia has been cancelled due to inclement weather. This leaves two remaining Round Two Workshops, out of the 10 originally scheduled: Thursday, February 11 in Fayetteville, N.C.; and Friday, February 12 in Atlanta, Ga. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 2, 2010 – The Rural Utilities Service of the Agriculture Department on Monday posted its guide to applying for grants awarded through the Broadband Infrastructure Program, or its portion of the broadband stimulus effort. The documents, posted on the “information library” portion of the BroadbandUSA web site, include the templates necessary to apply for RUS grants under the broadband stimulus program. The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is responsible for the bulk of the broadband grants under its Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, has not yet posted its application guide. Keep Reading