Communities Need To Be Creative When Looking for Funding for Muni Broadband, Report Says
Communities looking for ways to connect residents to broadband need to be willing to think outside the box and do some "serious work" to build out a network, said municipal consultant Craig Settles, president of CJ Speaks, in a report…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
sponsored by Corning and SiFi Networks. One of Settles' examples was Columbus, Ohio, which received Department of Transportation funding to replace traffic signals. The city used an almost $8 million grant from DOT to fund the project, contributing about only $750,000, to get a new traffic signal system that was built on the backbone of fiber cable and wireless technologies, the report said. The city can invite an ISP to use the city's fiber and offer broadband service to its residents, Settles said. He said other federal agencies that will fund broadband projects include the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Interior.