As the City Council and Utility Board of Tacoma, Wash., draw closer to approving an innovative broadband public-private partnership (P3), Mayor Victoria Woodards has noted that the proposed agreement will not just create potential financial benefits, but will achieve key City policy goals—including equity, low-income affordability, net neutrality, and competition. In an article published this […]
Joanne Hovis, President Yesterday I had the honor of presenting the results of a near-18-month process to the City of Tacoma, Wash., City Council and the Board of Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU). At their direction, I have been working with a City and TPU team to determine a future strategy for Tacoma’s successful and renowned […]
Heather Mills, Lead, CTC Funding Strategies Team The USDA’s Rural Utilities Service last week released the final deadline dates for the upcoming ReConnect grant and loan funding cycles, in which $600 million will be awarded for rural broadband projects.[1] While the final application is not yet available, the new final deadline dates and the program […]
The Port of Ridgefield, Washington, released an RFI to solicit informal proposals from private sector entities that may have an interest in leasing the Port’s planned 42 miles of dark fiber to make affordable broadband available to businesses, economic development areas, first-responder facilities, anchor institutions, and residences. The information gleaned from this RFI will help […]
Read More… from Port of Ridgefield, WA, Issues Dark Fiber RFI
Andrew Afflerbach, PhD, P.E. CEO & Chief Technology Officer Like most cities, Boston needs an expanded fiber optic network to serve the fast-growing needs of City schools, police, and other departments—plus a range of applications like public safety cameras. Boston understood its needs—but needed more clarity on its choices. Would it be possible to affordably […]
Shawn Thompson, Principal Engineer A hundred bucks. That’s what the FCC recently decided is adequate compensation to your locality for processing a small cell application. In many cases, it’s not going to be enough. And if your actual costs are indeed higher than $100, you will effectively be forced by the new FCC rules to […]
Read More… from Documenting the True—and High—Local Administrative Costs of Small Cell Siting
Andrew Afflerbach, PhD, P.E. CEO & Chief Technology Officer By now you’ve heard of the Federal Communications Commission’s wireless preemption Order—scheduled to take effect in 2019—mandating that wireless companies get low-cost, streamlined access to public property to mount small cell facilities. We recently outlined Ten Strategies that your locality, state agency, or utility can consider […]
Read More… from The Three “Ps” of Managing Small Cell Applications: Process, Process, Process
Set to become effective on January 14, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission’s new wireless preemption Order[1] has states, localities, and publicly owned utilities rightly alarmed about encroachment on local authority and about forced federal requirements that put at risk the primary purpose of many public assets. In short, the FCC has preempted state and local […]
CTC’s Chief Technology Officer, Andrew Afflerbach, Ph.D., P.E., was appointed to the Disaster Response and Recovery Working Group of the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC). The FCC’s announcement notes that “the Working Group is charged with recommending measures that can be taken to improve the resiliency of broadband infrastructure before a disaster occurs, as […]
Read More… from CTC Chief Technology Officer Named to FCC Broadband Working Group
Joanne Hovis, President Heather Mills, Funding Strategies Team Lead Earlier this year, Congress made the first major appropriation for broadband infrastructure deployment in a decade. The following is our preliminary high-level analysis and strategic guidance for counties, towns, states, and public utilities regarding that funding—the e-Connectivity Pilot—a U.S Department of Agriculture program that will fund […]
Read More… from Preliminary Guidance for New USDA Rural Broadband Funding Opportunity