24 Apr 2018

Detailing the Urban-Rural Digital Divide in Georgia

by | Date: 24 Apr 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

At the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, we create maps analyzing publicly available data to show disparities in access and highlight possible solutions. We’ve recently taken an in-depth look at Georgia and want to share our findings with two revealing maps. According to the FCC’s 2018 Broadband Deployment Report, 29.1 percent of the state’s rural population lacks broadband access, but only 3 percent of the urban population shares the same problem. Cooperatives and small municipal networks are making a difference in several of these rural communities.… Read More
3 Apr 2018

North Carolina Cities Group Releases Report Advocating for Community-Based Internet Access

by | Date: 3 Apr 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The North Carolina League of Municipalities (NCLM) released a report in March with several recommendations designed to help the state boost connectivity for residents, businesses, and organizations. The report dedicates time describing different public-private partnership models and the elements that make them distinct. In recent years, the term has been used to describe a broad spectrum of arrangements. We’ve highlighted partnerships in places like Westminster, Maryland, and Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, where both partners invest and share in risk and reward.… Read More
13 Mar 2018

Grassroots Group Forming to Take Action on Broadband in Massachusetts City

by | Date: 13 Mar 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Upgrade Cambridge is a newly-formed grassroots broadband group that seeks to address one of the highest concerns of citizens in the city: broadband access. The new group will be used as a way to share information and spread the word about their initiative for a publicly owned fiber optic network.… Read More

5 Jan 2018

Arlington, Virginia Bridges the Digital Divide

by | Date: 5 Jan 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

People living at the Arlington Mill Residences in Arlington, Virginia, are on track to obtain no-cost high-quality connectivity this fall, likely through the ConnectArlington network. The initiative is an example of how one local community plans to use its publicly owned Internet infrastructure to reduce the digital divide on its home turf. The Homework Gap Within Arlington Mill’s 122 affordable … Read More
18 Oct 2017

Federal Communications Commission Complaint Reveals AT&T is Accused of Digital Redlining in Detroit

by | Date: 18 Oct 2017 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In Detroit, AT&T is facing a formal FCC complaint accusing the telecom giant of deploying discriminatory “digital redlining” tactics. This is the second such complaint filed against the telecommunications giant since the first of the year. NDIA’s report does not specifically invoke race or ethnicity— opting for the phrasing ‘lower-income neighborhoods’. The socio-economic realities of these communities, a result of the banking industries mid-century redlining tactics, has become the impetus for new types of discriminatory investment in these same areas.… Read More
1 Sep 2017

Cleveland Residents File Discrimination Complaint Against AT&T

by | Date: 1 Sep 2017 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Large, corporate providers like AT&T have to make shareholders happy, which is why they shy way from investing in regions where they don’t expect much profit. Routinely, those areas include sparsely populated rural communities and urban neighborhoods traditionally considered low-income. Often low-income neighborhoods also include a high percentage of people of color. Attorney Daryl Parks of ParksCrump, … Read More
29 May 2017

Rural Telephone Cooperative Forges Its Own Path In Michigan

by | Date: 29 May 2017 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Can’t get telephone or Internet service? Have you tried starting your own company? In 1998, John Reigle did just that with the support of the community and Michigan State University. Today, Allband Communications Cooperative provides not only telephone service, but also cutting-edge, high-quality Internet access and environmental research opportunities in rural Northeastern Michigan. A Story Of Promise, … Read More
16 Mar 2017

New Report: AT&T Digital Discrimination in Cleveland

by | Date: 16 Mar 2017 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

A new report from the National Digital Inclusion Alliance and Connect Your Community concludes that the telecom giant AT&T has redlined low-income neighborhoods in Cleveland. The company has cherry-picked higher-income neighborhoods for new technology investments and skipped over neighborhoods with high-poverty rates. AT&T’s Digital Redlining, uses publicly available data from the FCC and the American Community Survey to expose how AT&T has failed … Read More

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