States ride broadband wave

Stateline.org

Colorado is one of a number of states where state and local governments are prohibited by law to directly provide broadband service, for example, free municipal wireless connections.

So a recommendation in the Federal Communication Commission’s National Broadband Plan has state officials scrambling. Released in March, the plan calls for Congress to ensure that state and local governments don’t pose any barriers to making broadband available. If approved, the action could override the state laws.

Read more

Obama mentions broadband stimulus during Ohio visit

Washington Post

President Obama traveled to swing state Ohio Friday to showcase the stimulus measure he pushed through Congress 16 months ago -- a sign the administration is fretting over enduring criticism that the $787 billion package has failed to generate enough jobs.

Obama presided over the inauguration of a highway construction project in Columbus. The administration says it is the 10,000th road project to begin with stimulus money, one of many milestones it intends to mark throughout the summer and heading into the fall mid-term election season.

He promoted clean energy, broadband Internet, and other investments to encourage new areas of economic growth - "not the infrastructure that we inherited from our parents and our grandparents."

Governor: Stimulus funds to deliver broadband across Wisconsin

Associated Press

Wisc. Gov. Jim Doyle says federal stimulus money will help Wisconsin expand broadband telecommunications services to hundreds of schools and libraries.

Doyle on Monday asked the Legislature's budget committee to approve plans for adding fiber optic connections at schools in 70 districts by the end of 2010 and at libraries in 380 communities by the end of 2011.

Read more

Frontier Communications praised by W. Va. governor for planned capital investment in state

Bradenton.com

Frontier Communications Corporation is on track to complete its planned acquisition of Verizon wireline operations in 14 states on July 1, according to Dan McCarthy, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the company.

McCarthy’s comments came as Frontier was praised by the Governor of West Virginia for its planned capital investment in the state.

At a press conference at the State Capitol in Charleston, W.Va., Governor Joe Manchin noted that this investment “truly shows Frontier’s commitment to West Virginia and its desire to bring the highest level of services to our citizens.”

As part of their $310 million investment in the state, McCarthy says Frontier will have access to the $72.4 million that the PSC has ordered Verizon West Virginia Inc. to invest in service quality and expects to have access to the $126 million in stimulus money the state has received from the federal government for communications and broadband deployment.

Congress looks to borrow $2 billion for public safety net grants

Broadcasting and Cable

Congress is proposing borrowing up to $2 billion from the Treasury to fund the construction of an interoperable public safety broadband network in the 700 MHz band. That is according to a draft of a bill that will be vetted at a House hearing this week.

The FCC for years has been trying to establish the network but failed to draw a minimum when it auctioned the D Block of spectrum set aside for a public-private public safety network partnership.

Read more

West Va. puts statewide broadband network in motion

One lucky West Va. county will soon be able to tap into the capabilities of a new statewide hybrid microwave/fiber-based network.

Although West Va.'s Commerce Secretary Kelly Goes would not reveal which county would be the first recipient of the new network, she did say that "after we get the system working smoothly in that first county, we're going to wire everything that needs it in every county, statewide."

Read more

Canadian government cash will help expand Internet service in Manitoba

Brandon Sun

The annoying squeal of a dial-up Internet modem could soon be a sound of the past for thousands of households in rural and northern Manitoba.

Manitoba NetSet Ltd. -- a consortium of nine of the province's Internet service providers, led by Brandon's I-Netlink -- is set to receive a chunk of the $225 million available through Industry Canada's rural broadband stimulus program.

Vilsack: USDA investment should help rural America

Durango Herald

HILLSBORO, Mo. - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday the Obama administration is making new investments in rural America that should help reverse the economic decline seen in many small towns.

Vilsack laid out the administration's plan at a summit on rural economic issues in Hillsboro, Mo., about 40 miles south of St. Louis. New investments in broadband Internet, biofuels plants and small-scale farming will help create jobs in rural areas, Vilsack said.

While rural communities have lost jobs and residents for decades, they have a chance to regain them by producing fuel from crops and establishing Internet connections to other areas, he said. Vilsack told about 400 people who attended the gathering at Jefferson College that new attention - and investment - would flow from Washington.

Read more

FCC to investigate advertised connection speeds

WalletPop

One in four web users say they doubt that their Internet connection is always as fast as the service provider advertises, according to a recent Federal Communications Commissions survey.

Now, to see whether the broadband connections widely described as "blazing fast" in advertisements are indeed offering what consumers are paying for, the agency wants to sign up 10,000 households for the biggest test of web connection speeds ever conducted in the U.S.

The study is being funded by money from President Obama's economic stimulus plan.

Read more

Google gets front-row seat for broadband stimulus spending

Wall Street Journal

A nonprofit organization overseen by employees of Google Inc., Intel Corp. and other technology firms has won the right to distribute more than $7 million in federal stimulus funding aimed at expanding Internet access in California, and is now seeking millions more.

The California Emerging Technology Fund is applying for more than $12 million in additional stimulus funds to increase broadband access--giving a Google employee a hand in a noble pursuit that also dovetails with the company's broader mission, and influence over a quasipublic entity doling out government grants.

Read more