CTC Technology & Energy

Andrew Afflerbach, PhD, P.E. CEO & CTO Now that a federal appeals court has largely upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s preemption of local authority over small cell siting, states and localities would be wise to rigorously document their costs of processing applications and hosting equipment on utility poles or light poles. If they undertake such […]

Read More… from How States and Localities Can Set Realistic Small Cell Application Fees Now That the 9th Circuit Has Upheld FCC Preemption of Local Authority

Cat Blake, Civic Technology Analyst Local governments in Maryland have a short application window for a new grant opportunity that will fund broadband and other projects. Applicants that are interested in the State of Maryland’s FY 2020 Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program must file their applications by September 23. Overview The State of Maryland currently […]

Read More… from Coronavirus Emergency Funding Available to Maryland Jurisdictions

With the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrating the critical need for communications connectivity, local governments are striving to improve local broadband service and fill broadband service gaps. At the same time, localities may be able to generate much-needed revenue from broadband and telecom assets they already own, including towers, fiber optics, rooftops, conduit, and poles. Indeed, many […]

Read More… from How Localities Can Monetize Broadband-Enabling Assets and Expand Connectivity

Heather Mills, Team Lead, Funding Strategies Ziggy Rivkin-Fish, Principal Grant Strategist The recently passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act added $1.5 billion to an existing grant program of the US Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA). This is a significant opportunity, both because of the size of the allocation and its […]

Read More… from $1.5 Billion in New Grant Funding Available from Economic Development Administration for Broadband & Other Projects

Cat Blake, Civic Technology Analyst The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has all of us searching for solutions—for health and safety, reassurance and comfort, education and employment. Many have heralded internet access as the solution that can address these problems. It’s true that universal access to robust, affordable broadband is paramount; this crisis has exposed, more so […]

Read More… from The Broadband Lifeline in a Pandemic: Digital Equity for Human Empowerment

Shawn Thompson, VP/Analytics Much of the nation’s workforce remains homebound, but utilities, cities, and counties are not seeing any slowdown in applications for the installation of small wireless facilities (commonly called “small cells”) on light poles and other locations. Given the pressures on communities to process applications, this is a moment when you may need […]

Read More… from The Broadband Lifeline in a Pandemic: Tools to Manage Wireless Siting in a Crisis and Move Application Processes Online

Joanne Hovis, President As the nation prepares to ride out a pandemic that will persist for months, the need is acute for fast and inexpensive broadband rollout. Many communities have thrown up their hands because there are no LTE hotspots to be found on the market (the supply delay is many months at this point) […]

Read More… from The Broadband Lifeline in a Pandemic: How Your Community Can Quickly Connect the Unconnected

Andrew Afflerbach, PhD, P.E. CEO & CTO I’ve been working from home now for two weeks. So have my wife and children, my CTC colleagues, and most of our clients. We can probably work (and distance learn) for months this way, but many Americans don’t have this option because the remote, rural areas in which […]

Read More… from The Broadband Lifeline in a Pandemic: Strategies for Provisioning Fast Internet Service to the Most Remote Rural Areas

Andrew Afflerbach, PhD, P.E. CEO & CTO The COVID-19 pandemic requires fast, creative tools to provision critically-needed broadband in dramatically different contexts. Earlier this week, we wrote about how to deploy Wi-Fi to multi-dwelling buildings such as public housing, to get urgently-needed connectivity to households that don’t have it. In coming posts, we’ll talk about […]

Read More… from The Broadband Lifeline in a Pandemic: Strategies for Provisioning Broadband to Temporary Emergency Sites

Andrew Afflerbach, PhD, P.E. CEO & CTO Over the past several days we have heard from numerous communites seeking guidance for delivering broadband to unconnected households as fast as possible to meet urgent,  critical needs for remote work and education. Free community-provided Wi-Fi can be a lifeline during the pandemic. Many people cannot afford commercial […]

Read More… from The Broadband Lifeline in a Pandemic: How Your Community Can Quickly Deploy Free Wi-Fi to Meet Urgent Needs at Public Housing and Other Locations