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 »
FairPoint, the company that acquired Verizon's land lines in New England in 2008, filed for bankruptcy on October 26. This news comes as Verizon is seeking approval to sell 4.8 million landlines to Frontier Communications in 14 states. Read More »
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced on October 5th that it has awarded four state grants in California, Indiana, North Carolina, and Vermont for broadband mapping. Read More »
This past Tuesday, Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick, announced the creation of a 4.56 mile fiber optic conduit that will stretch along a section of Interstate 95 up toward the Vermont border. This critical section of Internet infrastructure will complete a high speed information network that spans more than 50 miles from Connecticut to Vermont. The benefits of, quite literally, bridging this digital divide, are nearly endless. Read More »
Last week, the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) sent letters to the Democratic and Republican leadership in both houses of Congress, urging them to include funding for high speed Internet infrastructure in their economic stimulus efforts. Read More »
Speed Matters has released our second Read More »
The Public Utilities Commission of New Hampshire has approved the sale of Verizon Communications operations to FairPoint Communications, ensuring the deal will move forward, thanks to $362 million in new commitments from Verizon. Whether or not the deal -- which will affect Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont -- would be in the best interest of the public, has been hotly debated. Because of this debate and scrutiny, spurred by both CWA and IBEW, the sale has moved forward only with major revisions, designed to improve service to New England customers. Read More »
CWA President Larry Cohen attended the "Building a Movement for Worker Justice" conference in Montpelier, VT last weekened. At the conference he highlighted the recent campaign by labor and community activists to "Stop the Sale" of Verizon's landlines in Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire to FairPoint communications, a small, financially unstable company. Read More »
Verizon's plan to sell its northern New England lines to FairPoint Communications remained stalled this week in the face of continued public opposition. The companies have been engaging in intense lobbying for fast-track approval in Vermont, but Verizon has been unwilling to provide the resources necesssary to ensure that Fairpoint will be able to provide quality service to the region. Read More »
The Vermont Public Service Board said a resounding "No" to the proposed sale of Verizon's landlines in northern New England to FairPoint Communications. The Vermont Board's decision left open the opportunity for Verizon and FairPoint to re-apply if it meets certain conditions to alleviate concerns about its finances. But if the companies offer Vermont the same settlement that they have proposed in Maine in response to similar concerns, it would not change the viability of this deal. Read More »
