BROADBAND

"Arkansas State Legislature Significantly Expands Local Broadband Options" (Jim Baller) :: Coalition for Local Internet Choice

"Cortez [CO] City Council moved another step closer Tuesday night to approving a ballot measure that would give the city the option to provide its own internet, telecommunications and cable services to residents." :: The Journal

Milton, MA considers setting up municipal light department; "The department would be established not to sell electricity but to provide broadband service to the community" :: Patriot Ledger

Thurmont, MD "studying plan to provide town-wide internet access" :: Frederick News-Post

Profile of Chanute, KS (pop. 9,100) FTTH network; "It began back in 1984 when the city’s utility department installed four miles of fiber optic cable to monitor and control its electric grid." :: Institute for Local Self-Reliance

"New Mexico DOT Steps in to Assist in Broadband Expansion" :: Alamagordo Daily News

"Appropriations Act Delivers Largest Federal Broadband Grant Opportunity in a Decade" :: CTC Technology & Energy :: Keller and Heckman's overview (watch for our upcoming webinar on this subject, March 4 at 2 p.m.)

"The [pandemic] impact was immediate and has forever changed bandwidth usage patterns. As 2020 came to an end, subscribers, on average, were consuming close to one half of a terabyte (TB) of data, up 40% from 2019. The pandemic impact is even more pronounced with the growth in upstream bandwidth." :: OpenVault

. . . Covid-19 drives 51% increase in broadband traffic in 2020 :: RapidTVNews

. . . "A terabyte isn’t what it used to be—14% of Internet customers use more" :: Ars Technica

"Solving the Urban Digital Divide" (re: Emergency Broadband Benefit program) :: POTs and PANs

"How the Biden Administration Can Expand Rural Broadband" :: New Yorker

"[Sen.] Markey told Incompas summit attendees on Monday that [the] broadband boost for E-Rate, aimed at supporting online learning, would be distinct from Democrats’ more comprehensive digital ambitions, which would come later, as part of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure deal-making. Those include $100 billion for a series of broadband infrastructure and digital training investments in a measure led by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn." :: Politico

. . . "Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Wednesday (Feb. 10) that he plans to reintroduce the Internet Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act." :: NextTV

. . . House Energy & Commerce "will probably mark up infrastructure legislation in April or May, Pallone added, which would likely entail reviving Democratic ambitions for investing $100 billion in broadband." :: Politico

"The House Energy & Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Feb. 17 titled 'Connecting America: Broadband Solutions to Pandemic Problems.'" :: NextTV

ACLU includes broadband expansion as part of its "systemic equality" agenda :: ACLU

NTIA webinar: "NTIA Grant Programs in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021"; March 17, 2-3 p.m. ET :: Webinar registration :: NTIA Overview of Grant Programs

Interview with Jonathan Chambers on "over-zealous RDOF winners" :: Telecompetitor

Sonic files FCC petition "to loosen [Trump-era] rules that require dominant local telecoms to unbundle and resell fiber networks to make room for competitors." :: Law360

"Faster fiber broadband has reached Utqiagvik, Alaska, the northernmost point in the U.S., according to a spokesperson for Quintillion and Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative (ASTAC)" :: Telecompetitor

"Google Fiber’s Un-Cable Provider Approach Sets Focus on Customer Experience" :: Broadband Communities

"Keeping Up with Broadband Upgrades" :: POTs and PANs

WIRELESS

"AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon all exceed 1 Gbps 5G at Super Bowl LV" :: FierceWireless

"Brewing Spectrum Tug of War in the 12 GHz Band Has Major Implications for 5G, Fixed Wireless" :: Telecompetitor

"Verizon won't catch T-Mobile with C-band" :: Light Reading

OTHER NEWS

"Proposed Sec. 230 rewrite could have wide-ranging consequences" :: Ars Technica