The state has completed all but one of eight bureaucratic requirements to award rural broadband construction contracts. Some experts expect nearly every household and business in the state to have an Internet connection by 2028.
Billions of federal dollars are coming to states to make broadband for all a reality, but funding alone doesn’t ensure results. Powerful resources are available to help state and local governments succeed.
Just a few months after the Starlink terminals began delivering connectivity, thousands of residents have signed up for the satellite-transferred service. While the connectivity isn’t perfect, the increased speed is life changing for many.
If you live in rural America, your Internet access can still be hard to come by. States can change the situation.
Charter, the parent company of the area’s cable and broadband provider Spectrum, will cover 100 percent of tuition costs for workers pursuing a high school diploma, undergraduate or associate degree and some certificate programs.
The state ranks 46th in the nation when it comes to Internet access and 7 in 10 residents do not have access to affordable connectivity, which is defined as below $60 per month.
Maine’s ambitious broadband expansion is creating demand for more workers to hang fiber. Women are increasingly responding to the opportunity.
The city council paused the $20 million contract with local nonprofit DigitalC with concerns that the $40 million broadband expansion initiative would be too large for the company to manage.
It’s especially hard to get low-income Americans living in multifamily buildings across the digital divide. But states and nonprofits are finding ways to do it.
Voter turnout is lower in rural places, something researchers say is a symptom of unequal amounts of civic infrastructure.
The results of a first-ever statewide broadband survey found that 37.2 percent of residents were unaware of the advertised speeds they are paying for and 23.7 percent reported speed dissatisfaction.
New federal funding presents opportunities to help families in affordable housing gain high-speed internet and all the benefits that come with it.
Despite the Federal Communications Commission’s map of available consumer broadband at 100 percent across the state, the state’s broadband office argues that rural areas are still left out, challenging 2 million addresses.
The attention highlight the millions of dollars going toward connecting every resident and business, as well as the benefits of broadband for education, the workforce and economic development.
The grant funding will be available through two programs that will support the state’s Broadband and 5G Sector Partnership, which aims to educate and train a skilled workforce for Ohio’s telecommunications industry.
Counties across the state have been challenging the accuracy of the federal Internet expansion map ahead of a Friday deadline. Westmoreland County alone identified 14,527 sites that don’t appear at all on the address maps.
