Mississippi Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley approved April 5 that M-Pulse Fiber, the broadband subsidiary of Monroe County Electric Power Association, will receive $8,191,008 from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) to provide broadband access to 3,881 homes and businesses in the service territory of M-Pulse Fiber.
âFolks in the service territory of M-Pulse Fiber deserve the same internet access as people living in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. Mississippi can never move into the modern world of education, economic development, health care or quality of life if our people are forced to sit at a fast food restaurant just to get on the internet. I am bound and determined that we fix this issue, and these funds to M-Pulse Fiber are a big step forward,â he said.
$91 2 million to aid in broadband expansion in northeast Mississippi wtva.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wtva.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A Fiber Network Spurs a New Northern New Hampshire Tech Corridor
Share
Broadband Communities
Planning, perseverance and strategic alliances pay off for the rural community of Bristol, NH, as it overcomes obstacles to bring better broadband and better jobs to residents.
Nicholas Coates, Bristol town administrator
Bristol, New Hampshire, is either underserved or unserved with broadband according to the FCC definition, but it is eager to provide affordable, high-speed broadband to its residents and businesses. The rural town has some internet options, but they’re largely low-speed services from the area incumbent telco and cable operator that can’t support demanding applications.
April 3, 2021
Berrien County Commissioners on Thursday heard from Midwest Energy & Communications CEO Bob Hance, who told them about efforts to expand broadband internet in rural areas of southwest Michigan. Hance said his company took part in an FCC auction of money in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.
“We actually won about $37 million that obligated us to spend another $150 million or so to serve upwards of 40,000 folks that were identified in that auction,” Hance said.
Hance said that works out to about $2 million in Berrien County. Most of it is in the eastern half of the county. County Administrator Brian Dissette said most work will start in 2022 and Mercury Wireless will address the board in the coming weeks to talk about efforts in the western half of Berrien County. Commissioner Teri Freehling also reminded everyone of the broadband survey being done in the county, which will continue a little longer.
Commentary
In March, the FCC and USAC worked hard to stand up the first of
three pandemic-related special programs, the Emergency Broadband
Benefit Program (EBBP). Rules for the $3.2 billion EBBP were
adopted in February and the Wireline Competition Bureau
(Bureau) issued milestones in March for ETC election notices,
non-ETC applications and applications to use alternative
verification systems. Acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel said in
mid-March that over 100 applications or election notices were filed
(we believe the number is much higher now); clearly the program is
attracting a lot of interest from service providers and, in
particular, from service providers that have not heretofore