A paper designed for city officials seeking affordable, abundant bandwidth in their communities. It reviews the current landscape of broadband networks, outlines best practices, summarizes existing models, and presents a framework through which community leaders can begin developing projects given the city's specific circumstances.

An article that offers recommendations for a comprehensive, national broadband strategy to ensure everyone in America can access high-performance broadband as soon as possible. These recommendations highlight actions that can be taken by the Biden Administration, Congress, and the FCC.

This synopsis provides a link to a blog with additional resources from the Benton Institute to explain what federal broadband funds are available and to assist state and local leaders to meet connectivity challenges and promote digital equity.

This paper offers key principles and highlights practical broadband deployment and adoption solutions to increase agricultural productivity and sustainability. Farmers need connectivity in the farmhouse, field, and community for sustainable, data-driven agriculture, and providing practical solutions gives them the necessary tools for innovative farming practices.

This resource discusses the importance of electric cooperatives and publicly owned municipal electric utilities in the delivery of broadband services. The piece states that they provide access to essential infrastructure while having lower risks and fewer entry costs. Rural electric co-ops are critical to the deployment of broadband in places without any service and they can also provide competitive choices in areas with service.

This resource argues for the inclusion of broadband in Congress' stimulus bill, the CARES Act. Broadband deployment, competition, affordability, adoption, and connectivity to community anchor institutions combine to form essential parts of an agenda for change.

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This blog offers seven ways for governments to tackle the broadband affordability challenge in America, as cost is a primary reason people do not subscribe to broadband. The author offers such recommendations as spurring competition, protecting and strengthening Lifeline, helping subsidize programs for low-income people, and educating and protecting consumers.

The Benton Institute’s Jonathan Sallet examines how community anchor institutions can serve as a launching pad for community-based broadband access and more broadband competition. Communities may be able to share infrastructure in order to bring better commercial services to unserved and underserved areas.

A paper that reflects on the progress made under the National Broadband Plan, with a specific focus on the digital divide. The guiding principles for broadband adoption still resonate as successful efforts addressed multiple barriers to adoption and the plan for changes in technology helped ensure community programs served clients with up-to-date technology.

This resource argues for universally available, affordable broadband for everyone in Illinois. A study conducted by the Illinois Broadband Advisory Council reveals that race, ethnicity, and age are important factors in internet access and adoption. The blog uses the multiple findings from the study to initiate a conversation about broadband access, adoption, and affordability.

A paper that examines public-private partnerships (P3) as a promising alternative to the traditional municipal broadband or middle mile models for communities that lack the capital, the expertise, or both to deploy and operate fiber networks or act as internet service providers on their own. The paper also discusses major legal issues that may arise in broadband P3 projects.

A paper from August 2021 detailing community-led broadband case studies of six communities that have succeeded in providing robust services that were not previously available or providing competition for incumbent companies.

A study, from May 2019, that discusses three key elements of broadband policy success—availability, adoption, and application—as well as statewide priorities such as broadband planning and mapping, and material broadband enhancements to rural hospitals. The plan focuses on rural Alabama and makes a case for why broadband is necessary.

A policy brief arguing for increased competition and broadband deployment to address issues faced by residential and small business customers. The resource focuses on the construction of open-access, middle-mile networks as a solution.

A paper from October 2020 that reinforces the themes of the previous year’s Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s about the need for ubiquitous broadband across the United States. The author takes into account how the Covid-19 pandemic has accentuated the digital divide on geographic, racial, and class lines.