$930 million in grants announced in Biden's effort to expand internet access to every home in the US
apnews.com
The federal effort to expand internet access to every U.S. home has taken a major step forward with the announcement of $930 million in grants to shore up connections in dozens of places where significant connectivity gaps persist. Those places include remote parts of Alaska and rural Texas. The so-called middle mile grants are intended to trigger the laying of 12,000 miles of fiber through 35 states and Puerto Rico. The middle mile is the midsection of the infrastructure necessary to enable internet access, composed of high-capacity lines carrying lots of data quickly. The expansion is among several initiatives pushed through Congress by President Joe Biden's administration to expand high-speed internet connectivity.

The federal effort to expand internet access to every U.S. home has taken a major step forward with the announcement of $930 million in grants to shore up connections in dozens of places where significant connectivity gaps persist. Those places include remote parts of Alaska and rural Texas. The so-called middle mile grants are intended to trigger the laying of 12,000 miles of fiber through 35 states and Puerto Rico. The middle mile is the midsection of the infrastructure necessary to enable internet access, composed of high-capacity lines carrying lots of data quickly. The expansion is among several initiatives pushed through Congress by President Joe Biden’s administration to expand high-speed internet connectivity.

  • cakeistheanswer@lemmy.fmhy.ml
    4·
    1 year ago

    Fixed wireless has been a godsend if it’s around you. I’m rural but sitting one airborne hop from backbone fiber. I can vouch its the same tech as the futures trades ride downtown.

    In IL there’s a few providers that spun up in the wake of a tornado. Its not competitive with what I could get in the suburbs, but its better by far than the wireline out here.

    • CarrierLost
      1·
      1 year ago

      Yeah I’ve got fixed wireless now. We don’t even have the option for wired here. DSL isn’t accepting new subscribers (wouldn’t want it anyway) and there’s no cable.

      I tried to get my power co-op to run fiber (or allow it to be run) on the existing poles, but I just got a generic response about cost efficiency and maintaining standards for customers. It seems like an easy solution to me, but they won’t even consider it.

      • cakeistheanswer@lemmy.fmhy.ml
        2·
        1 year ago

        Had the same issue, my neighbors are grandfathered into DSL I can’t get. Local cable wire is offered 2mb, any extension for fiber was a 20k dig.

        If you’re fighting with a utility over pole space you might have some latitude with your county if you can make a case you’re isolated, without a vault close. I’ll tell you I didn’t get too far, but I’m fighting a railway and numbered highway too that made it a state issue immediately.

        • CarrierLost
          1·
          1 year ago

          I think the poles are actually owned directly by the utility, as it’s a “cooperative” instead of a for profit corp. That means that I’m a “shareholder” but to get any policy changes like that made, I’d need to trigger a vote that the other members (customers) would also have to agree to. (Hint: they won’t, because the co-op will tell them it’s gonna raise rates or degrade service)

          I’m just going to wait it out at this point. Fixed wireless is working well enough, and progress is coming. Infrastructure will follow the people, and this place is growing quickly.