Infrastructure
Digital Infrastructure Investment 2021: Pathbreaking Mini-Conference Monday at 1 p.m. ET
Even if you are not at the Broadband Communities Summit, you can still participate in Digital Infrastructure Investment 2021.
HOUSTON, September 26, 2021 – On Monday, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in the Digital Infrastructure Investment mini-conference at the Broadband Communities Summit.
I’m here in Houston for the start of the conference. I’m keen to kick off our five-hour program beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 12 Noon CT.
This event is taking place LIVE ONLINE and IN PERSON.
But whether you plan to attend the Summit in-person or not, we want to make sure you know what you need to about Digital Infrastructure Investment 2021. This unique and innovative event, now in its second year at the Summit, joins the broadband infrastructure and financial services communities to focus on digital infrastructure and asset investment profiles, including fiber, small cells, towers and data center assets required to support a 21st Century information economy.
REGISTER NOW
We’re also looking to collect questions from our LIVE ONLINE and IN PERSON audiences that we can address throughout the day. You can ask your questions — ahead of time, and during the event — by posting them on Sli.do for Topic 1.
As the five-hour event rolls out, we’ll take questions here on Topic 2, Topic 3 and Topic 4 using the same technology. See the full and updated program at Digital Infrastructure Investment 2021.
The Broadband Communities Summit is the leading conference on broadband technologies for communities. It will take place in Houston, Texas, from September 27 – September 30, 2021.
The Summit attracts broadband system operators, network builders and deployers of all kinds. Many of the country’s major property owners and real estate developers attend the Summit each year, along with independent telcos and cable companies, municipal and state officials, community leaders and economic development professionals.
Participation in the LIVE ONLINE portion is available for only $149.00. This purchase includes unlimited online replays of DII2021 – no matter what time you join the program.
Panelists at the event include representatives from Althea Networks, Broadband.Money,Google Fiber, Keybanc Capital Markets, Lit Communities, Positron Access, Render Networks, SiFi Networks, Ting Internet, UTOPIA Fiber, Broadband Now, the City of Brownsville, NoaNet, the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, the State of Illinois, California Emerging Technology Fund, the Wireless Industry Association, and more!
To order:
REGISTER NOW
Pay $149.00.
That’s it! You’ll receive an email with instructions on how to get the Zoom link to participate in Digital Infrastructure Investment 2021 Live Online.
Digital Infrastructure Investment 2021 Sponsors:
Platinum Sponsors

Lit partners with municipal, county and other governmental entities, as well as a variety of private partners to deploy last-mile fiber optic network infrastructure. Residents and businesses connected to our networks will receive service from a local internet service provider that delivers a local brand and promise of great service and customer support.

Broadband.money makes finding and winning broadband grants easy. Sign up at today at broadband.money to line up for your share of $42 billion worth of broadband grant funding with a single application that unlocks grants in multiple states. Find underserved and unserved areas in your territory. Need match funding? No problem. Get on the fast track to funded with many sources of private money to choose from. Discover, apply, get match funding, and win grants. It’s really that simple. www.broadband.money
Gold Sponsors

BroadbandNow is a data aggregation company helping millions of consumers find and compare local internet options. BroadbandNow’s database of providers, the largest in the U.S., delivers the highest-value guides consisting of comprehensive plans, prices and ratings for thousands of internet service providers.

Render Networks provides an entirely new approach to fiber deployment. Utilizing innovative geographic information systems (GIS), mobile and automation technology, Render’s platform and data management enable network operators, engineers and builders to deliver quality networks without the need for manual, paper-based construction packs. Render uses real-time geospatial data to provide increased control and visibility, resulting in significant resource productivity across the delivery lifecycle.
Silver Sponsors

SiFi funds, builds and owns FiberCity™ networks for use by Internet Service Providers, 4G/5G carriers and other service providers wishing to deliver ubiquitous high-speed broadband services to business and residential properties as well as connectivity for city-wide Internet of Things applications.

Created by a group of Utah cities, the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA) is a community-owned fiber optic network that uses the Open Access model to promote competition by giving customers the freedom to choose which telecommunication services they want.

Positron Access specializes in carrier-grade telecommunications products that increase bandwidth delivered and the distance covered within both core access networks and residential buildings using existing wiring infrastructure. These include line powered digital subscriber line amplifiers/extenders that double the customer serving areas and increase the bandwidth, G.hn Gigabit Access Mulitplexors (GAM) that provide managed non-blocking symmetrical gigabit bandwidth to subscribers in multiple-dwelling units/multi-tenant units over copper pairs or coaxial cables; and bonded copper solutions for mobile backhaul, core transport, access and edge aggregation.

The California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) has been on a mission over the last decade to forge partnerships and foster public policy to close the Digital Divide. This work has been strategically-focused, results-oriented, and people-centered. CETF is a leading proponent of the Digital Equity Bill of Rights
See the complete agenda for Digital Infrastructure Investment 2021
See the complete agenda for Digital Infrastructure Investment 2021
Funding
State Broadband Offices Have Obligation to Explain NTIA Notice of Funding to Applicants
Georgia Technology Authority representative says the notices are dense and difficult for applicants to understand.

WASHINGTON, May 20, 2022 – A representative from the Georgia Technology Authority on Friday said that state broadband offices are obligated to work with those applying for funding from the bipartisan infrastructure bill so that they understand the rules used to determine grant allocation.
Speaking at an event on grant applications for rural communities hosted by the National Broadband Resource Hub, Josh Hildebrandt, GTA’s director of broadband initiatives, emphasized that to maximize their chances of being selected for funding, applicants could require significant assistance in understanding the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s notices of funding opportunity that were released last week.
Want to know more about this game-changing Notice of Funding Opportunity, and the powerful tools it brings to U.S. last mile broadband? Visit Broadband.Money‘s tools and resources, including four themes to watch for in the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment NOFO.
“They are established for the sole fact of working through these NOFOs and being able to just deploy these funds,” said Hildebrandt.
Experts such as digital access organization Thrive Regional Partnership’s director of transportation and infrastructure Shannon Millsaps, another panelist at Friday’s event, say that the NTIA’s notices are not very easy for applicants to understand in part due to the dense language they use in explaining agency guidelines.
Hildebrandt also encouraged grant applicants to follow criteria in federal rules for disbursement that is stated to be “preferred” for grant allocation, stating that this will increase chances for applicants to win funding.
Millsaps additionally emphasized the need to remember in fund disbursement that different communities are struggling with different barriers to connectivity, even ones within the same state, and that different approaches to connecting the communities will be required during implementation of broadband infrastructure expansion.
Funding
Mountain Connect Features NTIA’s Alan Davidson, 2 Colorado Senators and State Attorney General
A star-studded cast will take the stage next week as part of the dozens of events slated to take place.

May 20, 2022 – The Mountain Connect conference next Tuesday and Wednesday will feature an interview with National Telecommunications and Information Administration Administrator Alan Davidson by Broadband Breakfast Editor and Publisher Drew Clark.
The two will discuss the recent notice of funding opportunities on released for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program, and the State Digital Equity Act programs.
Pose questions of and watch Davidson’s interview with Clark at the event livestream.
See questions asked of Davidson at Broadband Breakfast for Lunch in the Broadband.Money community, or read Broadband Breakfast’s and other reports of the prior event.
Also see Broadband Breakfast and Broadband.Money’s analyses about the recent Notices of Funding Opportunity, including on Middle Mile NOFO, and on BEAD’s local coordination and the challenge process.
The conference, in Keystone, Colo., on May 24 and May 25, will also include a question and answer session with Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. Bennet sponsored the of the Broadband Reform and Investment to Drive Growth in the Economy Act of 2021 which would go on to influence the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., will also speak at the event on Wednesday, and other officials speaking at Mountain Connect include Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, ConnectME Authority Executive Director Peggy Schaffer, Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton, Nextlink Internet Chief Strategy Officer Claude Aiken, and many others.il May 24.
There will also be five distinct subject tracks across both May 24 and May 25: Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment, Community Developments Track (One and Two), Emerging Technologies, and Community Broadband Case Studies.
These events will feature speakers from across the industry, representing providers, advocates, municipal entities, and private ventures. There will be 15 such events on May 24 and an additional 10 on May 25.
Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance Christopher Mitchell will be moderating two panels on May 24 – an event on Community Development Track One and another an hour later on BEAD.
Funding
34 States Signal Intent to Participate in NTIA’s Main Broadband Program
National Telecommunications and Information Administration announces news on its ‘Internet for All’ web portal for three IIJA programs.

WASHINGTON, May 18, 2022 – The Biden administration announced Wednesday that 34 states and territories signed on to participate in the programs outlined by its “Internet for All” initiative.
The “Internet for All” moniker is the new umbrella web site of the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration for its three programs under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: the Broadband Digital Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program, and the State Digital Equity Act programs.
These programs are part of the administration’s goals of bridging the digital divide and achieving universal broadband by 2030.
Since NITA announced the IFA on Friday, the following territories and states announced their intention to participate: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, American Samoa, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, United States Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo stated that the NTIA’s programs would be critical to allowing Americans to “participate in the modern economy.”
“Generations before us brought electricity to rural America and built the interstate highways,” said Alan Davidson, assistant secretary of commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA administrator. “Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, states are now ‘signing on’ to this initiative to promote Internet access and adoption so that everyone in America has a chance to thrive in the modern economy.”
Editor’s note: Because of an editing error, the headline of earlier version of this article said that 34 states had signed letters of intent to participate in NTIA’s BEAD program. In fact, 34 states have either signed letters of intent or otherwise signaled an intent to participate.
-
Broadband Roundup3 months ago
Microsoft App Store Rules, California Defers on Sprint 3G Phase-Out, Samsung’s New IoT Guy
-
Broadband Roundup4 months ago
‘Buy American’ Waiver Request, AT&T Cuts Dividend for Builds, Jamestown Municipal Broadband Program
-
Broadband Roundup3 months ago
More From Emergency Connectivity Fund, Rootmetrics Says AT&T Leads, Applause for House Passing Chips Act
-
WISP3 months ago
Wireless Internet Service Providers Association CEO Claude Aiken to Step Down in April 2022
-
Broadband Roundup4 months ago
AT&T Speeds Tiers, Wisconsin Governor on Broadband Assistance, Broadband as Public Utility
-
Big Tech2 months ago
‘Cartel’ is ‘Most Absurd Term Ever’ for Media Allowed Revenue Share With Tech Platforms: NMA
-
Broadband Roundup3 months ago
Rosenworcel’s Proposal for 9-1-1, Harris to Talk Broadband, AT&T Joins Ericsson Startup 5G Program
-
Blockchain4 months ago
NFTs May Be Central to the Emerging ‘Internet of Value,’ Say Experts at Pulver VON3