Image
Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Benton Institute Releases Report on Community-Led Projects Aiming To Bridge the Digital Divide
By
on
In an effort to facilitate the deployment of innovative broadband solutions in underserved areas - both urban and rural - the nonprofit organization US Ignite recently partnered with National Science Foundation (NSF) and Schmidt Futures to launch ProjectOVERCOME.
The Benton Institute released a report in November naming the seven communities that the project will focus on: Blue River, OR; Buffalo, NY; Cleveland, OH; Clinton City, MO; Detroit, MI;Loiza, Puerto Rico; and Yonkers, NY.
Image
In the report that was released, Benton spotlights each community and the technologies they will use. The technologies include Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), fiber, fixed wireless and hotspots.
According to the initiative's guidelines, these communities were chosen because of how they vary in population, demographics, regions of the country, housing, and industry. The program will work with these communities to experiment in deploying innovative Internet connectivity solutions on a 12-month timeline.
The projects will collectively result in not only education, outreach, and local broadband organizing development efforts, but provide direct connectivity to more than 700 households.
For example, in a CBRS deployment in New York,
The Project OVERCOME pilot in Buffalo will provide equitable broadband access, enabling community members to engage with educational, telehealth, and government services. These services have been unattainable due to high internet costs and digital redlining. As part of the project, four Long-Term Evolution (LTE) antennas are being installed on top of the Buffalo General Medical Center (BGMC). These antennas will broadcast signals to the Fruit Belt using the newly available Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum. Customer premise equipment (CPEs) and Wi-Fi access points will be installed at participants’ houses to catch the LTE signal and create a Wi-Fi network for home internet access. Through the installation of the LTE antennas, up to 140 households are projected to gain broadband service, with potentially hundreds more coming online in the near future.
Meanwhile, in a fiber deployment in Clinton County, Missouri:
The deployment in Turney will combine multiple wireless technologies into a single architecture using Radio Frequency (RF)-over-Fiber technology. The team optimizes bandwidth allocation by using machine learning in an intelligent router. It stitches low-cost, low-bandwidth hardware together to simulate a high-bandwidth device and reduce expenditures for overall deployment. As a model for other rural communities, the technology will build on an open-source platform that allows for replication elsewhere. The Turney team will also share lessons learned and best practices from the project to help expand the fiber edge and bring greater connectivity to other small, rural communities.
Along the way, US Ignite plans to collaborate with academics to chart the impact on “health care, education, employment, and skills development.” They’ll be monitoring both the successes and challenges the communities come across throughout the process, as well as how some of these tests might offer solutions in bridging the digital divide.
Read the report here to learn more about the communities and follow Project OVERCOME here.
Related Stories
AAPB and Benton Publish New Handbook: ‘How To Build A Public Broadband Network’
The American Association of Public Broadband’s (AAPB) publishes a new step-by-step handbook to guide communities in building their own broadband networks. The handbook is a key part of AAPB's strategy to double the number of public networks in the next five years, supporting communities in leveraging these networks for economic development, smart city initiatives, and attracting new residents.
Ottawa County, Michigan Strikes $25 Million Partnership With 123Net
Ottawa County, Michigan officials say they’ve struck a new public private partnership (PPP) with 123Net on a $25 million fiber deployment that aims to bring more uniform – and affordable – broadband access to Michigan’s seventh largest county by population.
Municipal Broadband in Colorado Big Winners In Latest Wave Of State Grants
Colorado has long been home to some of the most innovative municipal broadband projects in the country. It’s now being buoyed by a massive new wave of state grants that should further expand affordable broadband to long-neglected parts of the state. Larimer County in particular – home of some of the most disruptive municipal broadband operations in the country – got a major infusion of new funding for several community-owned providers working to bridge the digital divide.
Idaho Greenlights $120 Million For 18 Broadband Projects
The Idaho Broadband Advisory Board (BAB) has greenlit $120 million in broadband grants from the Idaho Capital Projects Fund (CPF) to fund 18 different broadband projects across Idaho, delivering affordable fiber access to 30,000 homes and businesses, many for the first time.
Broadband Labels Help Transparent Providers Show Off Their Service
The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) recently published rules for its broadband nutrition label provides a partial victory for Internet subscribers and a potential marketing advantage for fiber providers – but may pose a challenge for wireless Internet service providers. Though the new rules were finalized in October, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have until 2024 to publish their broadband labels.
Hoopa Valley Tribe and State of California Embark on Historic Collaboration
A new chapter in state-Tribal relations is being written as the importance of robust and reliable telecommunication becomes all-too-apparent, especially in the face of more frequent extreme weather events. For the first time, a Tribe in California is building high-speed Internet infrastructure in collaboration with the state, thanks to the resilience of the Hoopa Valley people. With NTIA grant funding now secure, Hoopa Valley is on the cusp of building out a fiber network and more reliable wireless infrastructure to provide high-speed Internet access to over 1,000 on-reservation homes currently without service.