Community Broadband Media Roundup - April 13

Colorado 

Municipal election results roll in, 3 new municipalities pass broadband service by Brennan Linsley, Colorado Politics 

Georgia

Blue Ridge Mountain EMC Transforms Broadband Have-Nots Into Broadband Haves by Sean Buckley, Broadband Communities

Kansas 

Monroe County EPA teams up with Conexon to launch fiber-to-the-home network, Monroe Journal

Monroe County EPA will begin construction on the network by the fourth quarter of 2020, with the first customers expected to be connected by early 2021. The four-year build-out will span 1,500 miles of fiber, serve 100 percent of the power’s association’s 10,800 members and is anticipated to cost in the range of $29 million.

Maine

Coronavirus sparks new interest in bridging digital divides by Zack Quaintance, GovTech

Minnesota

New urgency for rural broadband by Aaron J. Brown, Hibbing Daily Tribune

Missouri

Wisper, Rural Electric Cooperative Sho-Me make deal on Missouri broadband builds by Joan Engebretson, telecompetitor

New York

Buffalo Public Schools grapple with the city's digital divide: ‘It’s just a big equity issue.’ by Kyle S. Mackie, WBFO

North Carolina

Working from home? North Carolina's new site maps Wi-Fi, ISP deals by Ryan Johnston, Statescoop

Tennessee

Ben Lomand awarded $2 million broadband access grant for Cumberland County by Gary Nelson, Crossville Chronicle

Twin Lakes to receive broadband grant, Overton County News

Grant for broadband accessibility in Perry County, Buffalo River Review

Texas

Lockhart provides all district students free internet service so online learning can start by Heather Osbourne, Statesman

Trust and entrepreneurship pave the way toward digital inclusion in Brownsville, Texas by Lara Fishbane and Adie Tomer, Brookings

Utah

Roger Timmerman: COVID-19 reveals a gap in our online infrastructure by Roger Timmerman, The Salt Lake Tribune

General

Our lack of will to expand broadband access has left millions of students disconnected during closures by Ben Hecht, Fast Company

Verizon canceling FiOS installs and telling customers to wait a few months by Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica

Verizon is canceling many home-Internet installations and repairs during the pandemic, and some customers are being given appointment dates in November when they try to schedule an installation. The November appointment dates appear to be placeholders that will eventually be replaced by earlier dates. But Verizon is sending mixed messages to customers about when appointments will actually happen and about whether technicians are allowed to enter their homes.

Worried about 5G and cancer? Here’s why wireless networks pose no known health risk by Glenn Fleishman, Tidbits

Jon Cusack The Latest Celebrity To Spread Nonsense About 5G by Karl Bode, TechDirt