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Biden administration announces $930 million in grants to expand rural internet access
The Biden administration awarded $930 million in grants for telecom companies to build fiber networks in rural communities across 35 states and Puerto Rico.
The FCC's new, more accurate broadband maps may lead to improved coverage
The FCC has finally shared new broadband maps that (theoretically) improve internet coverage.
SpaceX wants to put Starlink internet on rural school buses
A SpaceX pilot program will put Starlink satellite internet access aboard school buses to keep rural students online.
The man who built his own ISP to avoid huge fees is expanding his service
A Michigan is expanding his fiber internet service from about 70 customers to nearly 600 thanks to funding aimed at expanding access to broadband internet.
FCC seeks to reduce rural broadband funding waste with new accountability program
The announcement of the Rural Broadband Accountability Plan comes after the FCC said last year it was taking steps to “clean up” the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.
Google wants to streamline the tricky process of assigning addresses in rural areas
Google announced a new tool today called Address Maker that would make mass generation of its address-substitute Plus Codes easier.
T-Mobile opens Home Internet signups in Michigan
The carrier’s Home Internet product started as an invite-only trial for select T-Mobile customer households, mainly those in underserved and rural areas, last year. The carrier’s LTE Home Internet service can deliver average download speeds of around 50 Mbps.
Alphabet's balloon-powered Loon internet comes to Mozambique
Alphabet has announced that Loon will soon provide its balloon-powered 4G internet service to several regions in Mozambique. The company has teamed with local carrier Vodacom to serve the Cabo Delgado and Niassa provinces, two vast regions that currently have spotty or no internet coverage.
A $1 billion initiative aims to bring EV chargers to highways and rural areas
While Tesla, Electrify America and others technically have nationwide EV charging networks, they don't really provide full coverage -- many rural areas are far from any kind of charger infrastructure. ChargePoint believes it can help close that gap, though. It's teaming with NATSO on a $1 billion effort to bring EV chargers to over 4,000 travel centers and truck stops (which NATSO represents) by 2030, with a particular focus on highways and rural areas. This could both spur EV adoption in rural towns and help with long-distance travel for everyone, ChargePoint said.
FCC commits $20.4 billion to help close the rural digital divide
Over the next 10 years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will spend $20.4 billion to bring high-speed broadband internet to underserved rural America. "This is the biggest step we've taken to close the digital divide," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a video today.
FCC rolls out a $9 billion fund for rural 5G connectivity
The FCC is creating a $9 billion 5G Fund to support rural high-speed connectivity. The funding is intended to help carriers deploy 5G in hard-to-serve areas, those that are sparsely populated and/or have rugged terrain. At least $1 billion will be reserved for 5G to support precision agriculture.
FCC task force will help connect farms and ranches
Today, the FCC announced a task force meant to support the deployment of broadband across unserved farms and ranches. The Precision Ag Connectivity Task Force will work with the US Department of Agriculture and public and private sector stakeholders. It will be responsible for developing policy recommendations for rural, agriculture-focussed broadband. "As I've traveled the country, I've seen the amazing efficiencies, innovations, and improvements that high-speed Internet brings to today's farms and ranches," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. " ... This is the present and the future of American agriculture, and we must do whatever we can to support these producers and enhance precision agriculture."
These British cows got access to 5G before most people
There's plenty of speculation around how 5G will impact our daily lives -- from enabling self-driving cars to seemingly instant downloads. But we might learn how it will impact cows before most humans put it to the test. In southwest England, 50 dairy cattle are now wearing high-speed smart collars that control robotic milking systems. It's both a way to test 5G's potential in agriculture and to publicize one of Cisco Systems Inc.'s rural network trials.
Microsoft says FCC data on improved broadband coverage is misleading
It's a well-known fact that large swathes of the US remain without broadband connectivity -- indeed, some $22 billion has been poured into closing this gap over the past five years. However, exactly how many Americans are going without is up for debate. As a new blog post by Microsoft explains, "official" data from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can't be trusted.
FCC allocates $67 million to boost rural broadband adoption
The FCC is acting on its promise to pour more money into rural broadband. The regulator has formally offered an additional $67 million to 207 rural carriers through the Connect America Fund on the condition they "significantly expand" access to service with at least 25Mbps downloads and 3Mbps in uploads. If you ask the FCC, this could speed up internet access for as many as 110,000 households across 43 states.
FCC offers $67 million more per year for rural broadband programs
The Federal Communications Commission announced today additional funding to its Connect America Fund dedicated to expanding broadband internet service to rural communities. The agency will make available $67 million more per year than originally earmarked for the project. The funds could bring high-speed internet connections to more than 100,000 additional households and businesses, per the FCC.
Microsoft says the rural broadband divide is worse than you think
Politicians and regulators like to say they're increasing access to broadband in rural areas, but the reality might be far less rosy. Microsoft has conducted a study showing that far fewer Americans have broadband access than FCC data suggests. While the FCC is currently focused on availability and notes that 24.7 million people can't get fast internet service, Microsoft determined that 162.8 million people don't use broadband service, 19 million of them in rural areas. The gaps are sometimes glaring. In Washington's Ferry County, only 2 percent of people have broadband where the FCC claims it's available to the entire region.
Facebook and MIT tap AI to give addresses to people without them
About four billion people in the world are without a physical address. The MIT Media Lab and Facebook are teaming up to create a solution that will use a machine learning algorithm to identify and assign addresses from satellite images. The system would provide a cheap and efficient alternative to conventional mapping methods.
Verizon accused of misleading FCC on rural LTE coverage
Rural carriers have accused Verizon of using shady tricks to hinder its cellular competition. In a letter to the FCC, the Rural Wireless Association accused Verizon of providing the regulator with a "sham coverage map" that distorted the reach of its LTE network in order to deprive competitors of Mobility Fund subsidy money. Big Red said it covered nearly all of the Oklahoma Panhandle in its report to officials, but engineers testing against the FCC's 5Mbps standard estimated that the real coverage area was less than half as large.
T-Mobile will pay $40 million for failing to fix rural calls
T-Mobile has agreed to pay (PDF) the FCC $40 million for failing to fix ongoing call failures for rural customers. The carrier previously claimed that it had resolved the problem, but the Commission kept getting complaints about calls that weren't going through. The company also admitted it had committed another grave FCC sin: Injecting false ring tones while customers are on the line, which misleads them into thinking the carrier isn't to blame if a call fails.
