ILSR Offers Insight to FCC on Broadband Data Collection
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance teamed up with Next Century Cities and several other organizations to offer input to the FCC on how to improve broadband data collection. … Read More
Georgia Developing More Accurate Broadband Maps
Federal broadband maps have long been criticized for inaccuracies. Now, state and local initiatives are developing ways to create their own improved maps. … Read More
Visualizing Internet Access in North Carolina
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
FCC Commissioner O’Rielly Defends False Claims About Municipal Broadband
When he spoke at the “Free Speech America” Gala in October, did FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly think he would still be explaining himself almost two months later? After trying and failing to justify his false claim that munis violate the First Amendment, he’s once again on the defensive. He’s getting no help from the big national ISPs he’s trying to support.… Read More
In Op-Ed, ILSR’s Katie Kienbaum Explains How the FCC is Dooming Rural Iowans to Second-Rate Internet Access
When considering Iowa, what comes to mind? Open fields? Livestock? High-quality Internet access? According to the FCC, if you live in Iowa, your broadband problems are over. Of course, as ILSR Research Associate Katie Kienbaum points out in her recent piece in the Des Moines Register, the reality in the Hawkeye State is quite different than the FCC’s flawed stats report.… Read More
FCC Commissioner Falsely Claims Municipal Networks Violate First Amendment
On October 24th, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly spoke before the Media Institute at their “Free Speech America” Gala. In a speech for the telecom-backed group, O’Rielly delivered exactly what many of the big hitters in the audience would want to hear. He falsely accused, with nothing to back up his claims, municipal networks of posing an “ominous threat to the First Amendment.”… Read More
FCC Actions Worsen America’s Digital Divide
For all their attempts to tout their accomplishments, the current FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai is failing miserably at the their promise to shrink the digital divide in America. In a recent commentary in The Hill, policy and program manager for Next Century Cities Cat Blake explains how, rather than reducing the gap between Internet haves and have-nots, policy changes under the new administration is making the problem worse. Cat offers a few specific examples of policies and actions taken by the current FCC that have not only aggravated the problem of digital inclusion, but masked the realities of its severity.… Read More
FCC Adopts Order that Threatens Local Decision-Making
On September 26th, Republican FCC Commissioners adopted an Order that usurps local control and, in keeping with this administration’s prior policy decisions, strengthens the power of the largest companies, obtaining nothing in return.… Read More
ICYMI: NBC News Ponders Rural Connectivity, Economic Development, and Bad Data
In his recent article written for NBC News, journalist Phil McCausland examines the impacts broadband access can have on rural communities and the challenges that persist in bringing coverage to these isolated areas. Reliable high-speed internet access can spark economic development in some of the United State’s most cash-strapped areas, but a lack of dependable data makes acquiring funding difficult.
McCausland explores how high-speed Internet access is becoming increasingly essential for communities’ economic growth. He spoke with Roberto Gallardo, the assistant director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development, who explained how having broadband access today “is analogous to the installation of a railroad 100 years ago or a highway 50 years ago.”… Read More