February 2016

Exactly one year ago this morning, the Federal Communications Commission granted two petitions from Next Century Cities members Chattanooga, TN and Wilson, NC which sought relief from state laws restricting both communities’ ability to expand their successful gigabit Internet networks. The decision marked an important victory in support of oneof Next Century Cities’ core principles, […]

A recently-announced partnership between city leaders in Huntsville, Alabama and Google Fiber points to a promising new model for ensuring greater access to high-quality broadband Internet. This new collaboration will see the City of Huntsville build out and own a fiber network while leasing dark fiber capacity to Google Fiber to provide gigabit-speed Internet to

]Next Century Cities members often ask how they can become fiber ready communities. We encourage them to start by checking out helpful checklists, such as Google Fiber’s City Checklist or CTC’s Broadband Strategies Checklist. Using these checklists to become ‘fiber-ready’ makes communities more attractive for all investors in broadband infrastructure, not just the organizations that

Earlier this week, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center of the Sesame Workshop released a new report on the state of digital inclusion and the impacts of persistent inequalities in access to high-quality Internet. Released as part of a February 3 event at New America, the report demonstrated that low-income families continue to suffer from inadequate