Municipal broadband networks connect more than 500 communities across the country, but some states are trying to keep that number from growing. Nineteen states have established legal barriers or even outright bans on publicly owned networks.… Read More
Across the country, state legislatures are ushering in better rural connectivity by passing new laws that enable electric cooperatives to expand high-quality Internet access.… Read More
According to FCC data, which is riddled with errors and fundamentally overstates coverage, almost 95 percent of North Carolina has access to broadband speeds. Despite seemingly widespread connectivity, many rural parts of the state are still not connected.… Read More
Decades after bringing electricity and telephone services to America’s rural households, cooperatives are tackling a new challenge: the rural digital divide. … Read More
Beresford, South Dakota has a long history of providing for itself: The city is now upgrading old infrastructure to bring better connectivity to residents. “This is really a game changer for us,” said Beresford Mayor Nathan Anderson. … Read More
Tuttle, Oklahoma, is reaping the benefits of publicly-owned broadband infrastructure. … Read More
Innovation today requires a high-speed Internet connection, and in rural areas, that often means a fiber optic network owned by a local government, a cooperative, or a local business. … Read More
An op-ed written by Katie Kienbaum, Researcher at ILSR, was published by the Jacksonville Daily News. It discusses the need for better broadband access in North Carolina, as well as “Let’s Connect,” a series of community meetings on the subject organized by ILSR, NCLM, and NC Hearts Gigabit…… Read More
Ninety miles west of Boston, the small town of South Hadley, Massachusetts, will soon have a new, municipal option for Internet access. In October, the South Hadley Electric Light Department (SHELD) Board of Commissioners unanimously approved plans to build a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network throughout the town of 17,000.… Read More
