Iowa applicants applying for the USDA “ReConnect” Grant Program will have an advantage applying for the Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced this week. The program, announced in December 2018, makes about $600 million in grants and loans available for broadband providers in rural areas that do not have sufficient access to […]
Whoops. Federal Communications Commission chief Ajit Pai admitted that broadband growth numbers announced by the FCC in February were actually inflated by millions, reports Ars Technica. The errors were first published by advocacy group Free Press, which found a new ISP called BarrierFree falsely reported to the FCC that it went from serving zero customers to 20% […]
A community broadband equity pilot project between the city of West Des Moines, Microsoft Corp., T-Mobile and other partners is entering phase two of the ambitious three-year plan, officials said at a news conference Wednesday. The city now offers free public Wi-Fi, managed by Ovation Network, from the West Des Moines Business Incubator on Fifth Street […]
CenturyLink has announced the completion of new broadband to about 21,000 rural Iowa homes and businesses, reports the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The company announced last week the expanded broadband services, which reach more than 30 Iowa communities, including Muscatine, Winterset, Independence and Indianola. The expanded broadband was funded through the Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America […]
Applications for $1.3 million in broadband grants will soon be available through Iowa’s Office of the Chief Information Officer, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced on Friday. The grant program allows communication service providers, including telecommunication companies and municipalities, to apply for up to 15 percent of their broadband project costs in targeted service areas to improve […]
Craig Ibsen, managing principal at Next Level Ventures, and Stephanie Atkin, vice president of marketing at Dwolla, at Thursday’s Power Breakfast: Innovation Acceleration. Des Moines talks a big game about Iowa being an innovation state, but at Thursday morning’s Business Record Power Breakfast, one audience member wondered: is this true in rural communities? Fair question, […]
Slow speeds, bad coverage and expensive service. These are just some of the concerns contained in nearly 300 public comments on Rural Broadband Pilot Program proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a review by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting found. Little has been done on the program since President Donald Trump’s January 2017 […]
Some Iowans are scratching their heads after Microsoft announced a new rural broadband plan that will improve access in three Iowa counties – which are primarily urban, reports the Des Moines Register. Microsoft is partnering with Quad Cities company Network Business Solutions to expand internet service in three Iowa counties, Illinois and South Dakota. But […]