Capital Projects Fund Recipients, FCC-CRTC on Robocalls, Bandwidth IG Fiber in Portland
The first wave of money from the $10-billion federal Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund was announced Tuesday.
Teralyn Whipple
June 7, 2022 – The first wave of money from the $10-billion federal Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund for broadband was announced Tuesday to go to Louisiana, New Hampshire, Virginia, and West Virginia.
West Virginia will receive $136.3 million, Virginia $219.8 million, New Hampshire $50 million, and Louisiana $176.7 million. All states are eligible to receive funding provided they submit plans to the Treasury Department by September 24 and demonstrate how the funds will help fill critical broadband needs.
Participating service providers must provide service speeds of 100 Megabits per second download and households with incomes below the federal poverty guidelines will be eligible for discounts.
“We can’t help folks recover from the pandemic or encourage new economic development in areas like West Virginia if we don’t have connectivity,” said Senator Joe Machin, D-W.V.
Rosenworcel signs memorandum of understanding with Canada on illegal robocall fight
Jessica Rosenworcel, chairwoman at the Federal Communication Commission, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on Monday to combat illegal robocalls.
The memorandum provides the broad outlines of the agreement between the FCC and the CRTC to fight against illegal robocalls.
“Together we will continue to make stopping illegal robocalls a top consumer protection priority,” said Rosenworcel in a statement. “We know that many of these calls cross international borders before entering domestic phone networks. That is why it is critical that we work closely with partners like our colleagues in Canada who share our commitment to fight robocall scams.”
Bandwidth IG brings fiber connectivity to the greater Portland area
Bandwidth Infrastructure Group, a metro dark fiber provider for data centers, hyperscalers and enterprises, announced Tuesday the launch of its newest network in the Greater Portland, Oregon area.
Dark fiber is unused fiber optic cables that may be leased from a network service provider. Oregon’s growing IT networks and data centers in the area are increasing demand for connectivity and dark fiber services, the company said.
Bandwidth IG has fiber available in Greater Atlanta and the San Francisco Bay Area. According to a press release, its “infrastructure is strategically placed to ensure minimal overlap with other networks, ensuring true route diversity.”
“We’re pleased to develop relationships with companies like Bandwidth IG who can advance our economic development goals with strong dark fiber networks to our business community,” said Dan Dias, economic and community development director in Hillsboro.
