Community Broadband Media Roundup - May 20

Alabama

State Sen. Clay Scofield: Survival of rural Alabama depends on broadband expansion by Tim Howe, Yellowhammer News

Arkansas

What a broadband preemption victory in Arkansas means for rural cities by Spencer Wagner, CitiesSpeak

Arkansas plans to deploy broadband statewide by 2022 by Ryan Johnston, StateScoop

California

AT&T and San Jose, CA reach agreement on smart cities tech, digital divide funding by Jason Plautz, Smart Cities Dive

Inside the war over 5G equipment in northern California by Sarah Holder, Pacific Standard

Colorado 

With trips east, Loveland looks to other cities’ expertise on building broadband network by Julia Rentsch, Reporter Herald 

Idaho 

Next Century Cities highlights state action for broadband, co-sponsors broadband conference in Idaho by Drew Clark, Broadband Breakfast 

Indiana

Community forms task force to increase broadband access by Kraig Younts, Rushville Republican 

“This is not something a community accomplishes overnight,” co-chair of the Rush County Connect Broadband Task Force Mark McCorkle said. “It will take considerable time and effort to accomplish our goal of affordable, adequate and reliable internet access to every home and business in Rush County. By working together we can get there.”

Maine

Telecom group launches survey to gauge Mainers’ broadband priorities by J. Craig Anderson, Press Herald

Broadband committee starting to look ahead by Lars Trodson, Block Island Times 

Michigan

Farmington, Farmington Hills consider building broadband network by Shelby Tankersley, Hometownlife.com

Missouri

2019 promising year for rural broadband in Missouri by Dan Claxton, KRCG

North Carolina

State is stepping in to help bridge the digital homework gap by Mandy Mitchell, WRAL 

Will North Carolina dig its teeth into teledentistry? By Anne Blythe, North Carolina Health News

Pennsylvania

Gov. Tom Wolf summons army of municipal leaders to show support for his Restore Pa. plan by Jan Murphy, PennLive

The Digital Literacy Alliance wants to lessen the digital divide in advance of Census 2020 by  Tom Beck, Technical.ly Philly  

Texas

'You're doing this to allow your communities to survive:' Rural electric co-ops on broadband by Paul Flahive, Texas Public Radio  

Vermont

Scrambling for broadband in rural Vermont by Katherine Sims, VTDigger

The big leaps in service lately across the state have come from communities banding together, like EC Fiber in the Upper Valley, or partnering with small providers. In Craftsbury, where I live, the town received federal grants to build its own 13-mile fiber network, which it leased last year to Kingdom Fiber, a locally owned company that is starting to hook up customers. The percentage of buildings in town with access to true broadband speeds went from 8% to almost half.

Washington

Washington will create a statewide broadband office to expand Internet access by Monica Nickelsburg, GeekWire

General

Telecom, cable groups push rival plans on FCC broadband mapping by Jon Reid, Bloomberg Law

“The biggest consequence is when an area is considered served because they lose access to funding,” Christopher Ali, an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, said. “That is hugely problematic when one building in a community has quote-unquote broadband, and the rest don’t.”

Broadband infrastructure should be a national priority for policymakers by Anne Stauffer and Kathryn De Wit, The Hill

Communities are fighting 5G, permit by permit by Sarah Holder, CityLab

Tribes across country push for better Internet access by Felicia Fonseca, Seattle Times

Opinion: Flawed data keeps rural America on the wrong side of the digital divide by Zippy Duvall, Successful Farming