Between December 22 and December 31, The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced an additional twenty broadband mapping and planning grants in eighteen states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Read More »
The US Department of Agriculture released a report that compared job growth in rural areas that adopted broadband at the start of the decade with areas that lack broadband. The conclusion: broadband helps communities and businesses create good-paying jobs. Yet, according to the USDA study, only 41 percent of rural households had broadband connections in 2008. Read More »
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) recently hosted a seminar with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Connect Ohio, and broadband providers to discuss the benefits of broadband expansion. Sen. Brown and Sen. Tom Harkin, (D-IA) led early debates about and fought to secure funding for broadband access. And now that the $7.2 billon is earmarked, states and service providers are working to coordinate efforts to secure funds. Read More »
The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Rural Health Care Pilot Program (RHCPP) announced grants for five broadband telehealth networks - connecting hospitals in nine states on April 16. The program will also fund a sixth network in Alaska. Read More »
Speed Matters has released our second Read More »
On November 5, Senator Joe Biden joined CWA activists at an event at Marshalltown Community College in Marshalltown, IA to talk about the importance of bringing high speed internet access to all Americans. Read More »
Democratic presidential candidates Joseph Biden, Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, and Bill Richardson told Iowans of the critical importance of CWA's Speed Matters initiative during campaign events this week. Read More »
Access to high-speed Internet service isn't a major campaign issue like the war in Iraq or health care -- but voters are beginning to hear from presidential candidates why Speed Matters thanks to CWA activists who are taking the union's campaign to the candidates. This week, at a campaign stop in Iowa, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said CWA's Speed Matters' campaign is crucial to building a "strong America" where "small towns...have the ability to compete." Read More »
Last week in Iowa, members of the CWA Speed Matters team got a chance to get up close and personal with John Edwards and Barak Obama. Read More »
As the 2008 campaign heats up, the CWA Speed Matters team has been making the rounds in Iowa, informing candidates and citizens about the digital divide and the need for universal high speed internet access in the United States. At Senator Tom Harkin's annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa, on September 16, an at-home accountant told our video crew about the disadvantages of living in a community without high-speed internet. Read More »
