PSA for Government Haters

The telephone cooperative-owned Paul Bunyan Communications in Northern Minnesota recently announced it was giving a $3.6 million profit windfall back to local community members. It’s the fourth such payout to local subscribers in the last seven years. For distributions of $150 or less, a credit was applied to subscriber’s bills. For sums greater than $150, the cooperative mailed checks out to locals.

If you missed our inaugural Community Broadband Film Fest series kick off last week, the entirety of the event can still be viewed here. Following the live screening before an audience of over 100 virtual participants there was a lively discussion with several of the film’s key figures, including Holland Mayor Nathan Bocks.

At their core, maps are about using data to tell a story. And we may be biased, but we love a good map about the Internet around here. Hexes, polygons, heat maps: they're all equally as good. Whether in service to educating the public, or making a policy point, or helping local leaders make more informed choices as they work for the collective good, maps can be a powerful tool. Come and join us on a journal during the month of November, as we build 30 maps about the Internet in 30 days.

For many in the broadband and digital equity space, keeping up with “the maps” has been a long and arduous topic. Especially with the commencement of the BEAD program and state-level map challenges, we think it’s safe to say many feel frustrated or even horrified at what they find lurking within maps of Internet access. With Halloween upon us, we thought we'd take a short break from dwelling on such a tricky topic and instead offer you a treat.

In January, we released our new census of municipal networks in the United States for 2024, and the significant growth that we've seen over the last two years as more and more cities commit to building Internet infrastructure to add new tools for their local government, incentivize new economic development, and improve connectivity for households. The trend has not gone unnoticed by the monopoly players and their allies, and a new short documentary by Light Reading does a great job of outlining the stakes for local governments, residents stuck on poor connections, and the incumbents as the wave of municipal networks grows.

Thanks to a coalition of local digital equity advocates inroads are being made on fixing long-broken California cable franchise law as Digital Equity LA celebrates a major victory in pressuring the California Public Utilities Commission to produce more accurate maps that will be used to determine where the state's broadband funds should be targeted. These efforts come as California is putting its $7 billion broadband expansion plan into place with an eye on boosting competition and driving down consumer costs.