July 2018 – Next Century Cities

A Community’s Guide to Challenging Mobility Fund Phase II Ineligibility

Additional Resources, Blog Entry, Digital Inclusion, Financing / nextcentury

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s Mobility Fund Phase II (MF-II) aims to incentivize LTE/4G deployment in rural areas through reverse auction by making available up to $4.53 billion over the next ten years. However, some find the data that the FCC uses to make these funding decisions to be unreliable or incomplete. To combat this, […]

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Blair Levin: The Secret to Smart Policies About Smart Cities

5G, Blog Entry, News, Outside Resources, Resources / nextcentury

Thank you to the Internet Society for making the recording of this event possible. Remarks of Blair Levin Brookings Metropolitan Project at the Next Century Cities Conference Pittsburgh, PA July 25, 2018 The full text of this speech was first published by the Benton Foundation, here. I want to

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Broadband Breakfast — For Robust Broadband in the 5G Era, More Local Control May Be Required

NCC News, News / nextcentury

Many broadband experts speaking at the Next Century Cities regional summit here said last week that city jurisdiction should take precedence over federal rules in ensuring impactful broadband deployment.

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Washington Examiner — Lobbyists and location stymie rural America’s quest for broadband

NCC News, News / nextcentury

Running a T-shirt printing business on the main street of Pinetops, a North Carolina town with a population of less than 1,500 people, Suzanne Craig depends on the Internet.

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Route Fifty — Urban Broadband Needs Upgrading, Too

NCC Events, NCC News, News / nextcentury

Patchwork broadband service in urban centers often goes overlooked, given the pervasive lack of access in many rural counties, but affects “virtually equal numbers of people” in states like Ohio, said one digital equity advocate.

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Telecompetitor — Levin: Cities Know How to Get Broadband Done, Not a Dysfunctional Federal Government

NCC Events, NCC News, News / nextcentury

Blair Levin had harsh words for the FCC and Congress yesterday in an address about the role of cities in broadband deployment in an address about “The Secret to Smart Policies About Smart Cities” at a Next Century Cities broadband event in Pittsburgh.

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Pittsburgh Business Times — Broadband summit takes a look at deployment models

NCC Events, NCC News, News / nextcentury

Next Century Cities hosted Making Connections: A Regional Broadband Summit Monday and Tuesday to discuss models of successful broadband deployment.

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Next Century Cities Files NTIA Comments with Open Technology Institute

Blog Entry, News, Policies and Ordinances, Policy Agenda, Resources / nextcentury

Next Century Cities signed comments submitted to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) along with New America’s Open Technology Institute and others. The comments were in response to a request by the NTIA for comments on their efforts to improve the accuracy and quality of broadband availability data. The other signatories included Access

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Next Century Cities Hosts Regional Broadband Summit in Pittsburgh, PA

Blog Entry, NCC Events, News, Telling Your Story / nextcentury

This week, Next Century Cities hosted Making Connections: A Regional Broadband Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The summit brought together national and local leaders and included panel conversations about today’s pressing broadband issues, including broadband financing, digital inclusion, successful network models, and breakout sessions about 5G and rural connectivity solutions. Individual panel and keynote videos

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Unbundled Network Elements

Additional Resources, Blog Entry, Digital Inclusion, Financing, Models 101, Policies and Ordinances / nextcentury

What is an Unbundled Network Element (UNE)? Think of a UNE as a “broadband bridge.” This bridge allows network builders to supplement their networks by leasing (at a favorable rate) network elements — telecommunications infrastructure such as copper wire and fiber — where they do not have available infrastructure. It helps them fill in the

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