Search our curated library of expert resources, including funding guides, policy analyses, how-tos, and more. Resources have been provided by content partners from across the public-interest broadband community.
Fellowship programs are designed to fill specific needs for both governments and nonprofits by placing qualified fellows in an office that needs support. The following programs seek to connect emerging technology leaders with broadband offices to build public interest digital solutions. Interested in hosting a digital fellow? Learn more in this blog post.
The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) created significant new broadband funding opportunities for state, local, and Tribal governments. To ensure that your community is prepared to make the best possible use of these funds, we’re sharing some tips for how you can plan ahead for BEAD grant awards.
This document lays out a vision and strategy to connect every Detroiter to affordable, reliable broadband by 2032. It highlights the numerous benefits of broadband and why the lack of access is an emergency during the pandemic. It includes a series of policy statements that define specific goals for this plan. And it summarizes key findings about the cost of residential internet services.
This article explores how state governments aren’t taking full advantage of the 5% of Capital Projects Fund’s allocation that’s available now to pay for broadband planning efforts. Instead they’re waiting for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding to become available. But as a result some states are missing out on the opportunity to start making progress now.
This article explores how the cost of broadband is still a primary barrier to adoption. It also calls for Congress, state, and local leaders to take decisive action in the form of demand-side policy interventions to remove cost as a barrier, including policies and programs that help cover the costs of connections and devices.
Learn about the National Broadband Resource Hub and how the Hub supports governments and nonprofits working to close the digital divide. The Hub team will share tips on how to best utilize resources, community conversations, and the help desk.
This brief identifies key elements of effective state broadband plans. It highlights different types of plans the federal government is requiring for grant funding. And how these plans need data, stakeholder input, and baseline and interim goals. It also includes high level recommendations for programs and implementation strategies, plus examples of states that have made progress with their plans.
This interview highlights the partnership between the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society and the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity. It discusses how the two organizations worked together to help develop the State of Illinois's broadband action plan, with particular focus on digital equity programs.
This document shares the City of Baltimore's vision for pursuing transformational action to close the digital divide. It identifies the problems they face, the core principles their plan will adhere to, their goals, and a discussion of why this plan is important to the future of their city.
This article looks at the potential role of electric cooperatives in addressing the market failures that have left millions of Americans without broadband. It highlights the parallels to rural electrification and explores how these cooperatives are well positioned to provide broadband infrastructure.
This article looks at how investor-owned utilities can play a critical role in bringing broadband to rural America by using existing infrastructure for middle mile networks. It explores how some electric companies are leasing excess capacity on their networks and how states are encouraging this by passing laws that authorize joint efforts and define the parameters for collaboration.
This article looks at how regional utility districts can allow local governments to aggregate demand to improve the viability of deploying broadband especially in rural areas. It highlights how some states are adopting policies to encourage the create of communications union districts, and how these districts could leverage different types of bond financing.
This final rule adopted by the FCC establishes important measures for collecting highly accurate and reliable broadband data through the Digital Opportunity Data Collection. The data collection is a new effort, distinct from FCC Form 477, to collect geographically precise and detailed data on broadband service deployment.
This update of the Regional Strategic Broadband Plan published by the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments in 2013 outlines a series of success stories that were initiated or accelerated in the five years following the release of the plan. The update covers financial investments in broadband deployment; adoption; demand aggregation; and technical assistance projects.
This report describes the successes and challenges faced by consumers and libraries in connecting to broadband service. It presents the history and promise of Maine's "Three Ring Binder" plan to build a fiber optic network to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to rural parts of the state, and it also describes the development and importance of the Maine School and Library Network.
Maine's state broadband map, which shows the location of broadband availability disaggregated by speed tiers, can be filtered by wired and fixed wireless broadband, also lists which broadband providers serve various locations.
This article shows that childhood poverty almost inevitably increases as broadband access worsens and advocates for more funding for broadband deployments.
This primer provides an overview of the various ways that fiber-to-the-home networks can improve communities. It includes information about technical aspects of fiber, as well as how it can be used to improve quality-of-life issues such as telehealth, economic development, and property values.
This page aggregates links to a series of community-driven solutions for improving broadband access, adoption, and use, with examples of mini-case studies of communities who have moved the needle in those areas.
This one-pager covers issues related to promoting broadband deployment and adoption. It links to a series of supporting resources about broadband's lack of affordability for many Americans and the importance of digital equity efforts to encourage broadband adoption.
This one-pager highlights how broadband competition benefits consumers. It links to supporting materials about many Americans' lack of competitive options for fixed broadband, as well as examples of how increased competition has improved outcomes in Kansas City, MO; Wilson, NC; and Longmont, CO.
This one-pager highlights the value of broadband to small businesses and economic development and provides links to a variety of supporting materials.
This one-pager introduces the idea that by supporting broadband deployment the United States is also improving homeland security and public safety. It links to a handful of examples related to this topic.
This one-pager introduces three major topics related to broadband competition: promoting open access infrastructure, removing overbuilding prohibitions, and prioritizing funding for municipal broadband and other alternative providers.
This one-pager describes how broadband is critical to America's health because it improves the patient experience of telehealth and enables providers to offer better, more affordable care to more places.
The Resource Library is a curated collection of expert broadband resources, including funding guides, policy analyses, how-tos, and more. Every resource has been verified by the CTC Energy & Technology team, drawing on their more than forty years of expertise. The library is continuously updated as new resources are submitted for review. Search the resource library to find analysis, explainers, and case studies to answer your broadband questions.
The National Broadband Resource Hub is made possible through the generous support of the Ford Foundation and Schmidt Futures. The site is administered by the Broadband Equity Partnership.