Connected States of America

Moore Haven, Florida-based Glades Electric Cooperative has completed a long-planned fiber broadband network into largely unserved parts of the Sunshine State. The 1,600-mile network, built in conjunction with Conexon Connect, now spans Glades, Hendry, Highlands and Okeechobee counties, and the vast majority of the cooperative’s electrical footprint.

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance today released its comprehensive 2026 census of Tribal Internet networks, finding that the number of active Tribal-owned and operated broadband networks has doubled since ILSR first conducted this research in 2020, while offering a new way to interact with these networks’ stories.

On Thursday, the California Department of Technology (CDT) announced that after five years of planning, building, and promising access, the state’s $3.2 billion Middle-Mile Broadband Initiative (MMBI) is now operational. The high-speed network connected the last mile to the state’s first customer, the Bishop Paiute Tribe, a Native American community in Inyo County.

The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa (also referred to as Ojibwe) has officially begun construction on a foundational fiber optic broadband expansion project in northern Minnesota. The ambitious undertaking is supported by a significant $20 million grant awarded under the 2021 Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, marking a major step forward in modernizing infrastructure for the sovereign nation.

U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) have introduced a bill that would reauthorize the USDA’s ReConnect Loan and Grant program and expand the program to include Communications Union Districts. According to the announcement, the reauthorization would set a baseline of 100 megabit per second (Mbps) downstream and 100 Mbps upstream for broadband grants, up from the program’s dated 25 Mbps downstream, 3 Mbps upstream current standard.

The Pueblo of Jemez Tribal community was honored with a Project Excellence Award for its efforts to build-out a fiber network to reach hundreds of Tribal households, government buildings and businesses. Since January of 2024, JNET has been constructing its fiber-to-the home (FTTH) network, building-out more than 45 miles of fiber to date. More than 40 homes have already been lit up for service with the project expected to be finished in 2026.