CIO Magazine is the third organization in less than a year to recognize the importance of Ontario County's broadband investment in itself. CIO received a "CIO 100" award to go with recognition from Computerworld and the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Axcess Ontario is an open access middle mile network built without any federal loans or grants. They wanted to invest in themselves and have succeeded. The network serves multiple private sector telecom firms, including Verizon Wireless - a fact that should be recognized in an age when some would have us believe the public sector should never be involved in this essential infrastructure.
As the FCC has restored both net neutrality and its Title II authority over Internet access providers, smaller ISPs and municipalities worry the new rules saddle them with burdensome regulations as punishment for the sins of much larger companies. But the FCC, state leaders, and consumer groups insist the rules should be a net benefit all the same.
Utah-based UTOPIA Fiber has added three additional ISPs to its open access network, expanding the total number of partner ISPs to 18 now offering affordable fiber service to residents in the 21 cities UTOPIA serves.
Telecom monopolies have hoovered up the lion’s share of $214 million recently doled out by the Pennsylvania state Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP), with cooperatives, smaller ISPs, and community-owned networks left largely out in the cold. It’s not a surprising move for a state long considered politically hostile to community-owned and operated broadband networks, though industry experts say this latest round of awards was particularly egregious when it comes to dodgy politics and its total lack of any real transparency.
Schoharie County, New York officials have applied for a $30 million New York State ConnectALL grant with the hopes of eventually building a $33 million, county-wide fiber network. The shape and scope of the network has yet to be determined, but the county hopes to build a network that brings affordable access to the rural, agriculture-heavy county.
Driven by past successes with city-owned fiber and Wi-Fi, Newark New Jersey has announced the city is significantly expanding the availability of $20/month broadband service to numerous Newark Housing Authority (NHA) apartment buildings. A partnership with Adrena leans heavily on Newark Fiber, a 288-strand city-owned fiber network that has been a cornerstone of the city’s efforts to revitalize and assist many lower income – and long neglected – Newark neighborhoods.
Advocates for better Internet access are breathing a sigh of relief in New York as the State Assembly nixed a budget bill amendment that would have undermined the state’s municipal broadband grant program.