Speed Matters' partner One Economy was awarded $28.5 million in grant money to expand high-speed Internet in underserved communities in the latest round of NITA's Broadband Opportunity funding. Read More »
The Commerce Department has announced broadband investments totaling more than $29 million for the nation's two largest cities, Los Angeles and New York. The grants target computer-training programs and will allow more than 30,000 low-income students and their families online access to educational, employment, and health information. Read More »
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke recently announced the latest round of economic stimulus awards totaling $357 million for expanded high-speed Internet access. Nine states received record funding for broadband expansion. Nine states - California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin - received funding from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Read More »
With the price tag of college tuition rising and unemployment growing, distance learning is allowing community colleges to increase enrollment without overburdening finite resources. Thanks to broadband, offering courses virtually has never been easier - and that's good news to the nation's community colleges, which are being swamped by job seekers going back to school. Read More »
Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) is leading the effort to close a tax loophole driving anti-consumer corporate deals such as the proposed Verizon-Frontier transaction. Read More »
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced $3.4 million in grants to improve Internet connections of public libraries in Kansas, Arkansas, New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts. Through the Opportunity Online program, the Foundation will partner with fourteen additional states to help libraries compete for broadband stimulus funds. Read More »
USDA Rural Development and Cooperstown-based Bassett Healthcare joined forces to demonstrate the life saving capabilities of broadband and medical technologies, on Oct. 27. The event celebrated USDA's 60th Anniversary of its Telecommunications Program. Read More »
Speed Matters released the third annual report on Internet Speeds in America - and U.S. connection speeds have not improved significantly in the past year. The results of the report are based on the last-mile connection speed of over 413,000 Internet users who took the online test between May 2008 and May 2009. The data also confirms that where a customer lives is a good indicator of Internet connection speed. With some exceptions, if you live in a Northeastern or Mid-Atlantic state, you are likely to have good high-speed Internet options. Read More »
Medical experts recently released a white paper that touts telemedicine as a core component of health care reform in the United States. Telemedicine will control cost inflation and provide additional benefits that "greatly exceed the costs," according to the white paper. Health-e-Access Telemedicine Network run through the University of Rochester Medical Center is a great example of the potential of telemedicine. Read More »
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $6.9 million pilot grant to public libraries in seven states today to improve the speed of Internet connections. Read More »
