This policy brief presents the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) rules for planning and construction targeted at closing the digital divide for low- and medium-income families.

This State Broadband Plan from West Virginia, published in 2019, reviews activities to date of the West Virginia Broadband Enhancement Council and sets the Council's goals for facilitating broadband deployment while outlining numerous strategies to meet those goals.

The Commonwealth Connect Plan, published in 2020 by the State of Virginia, explains how the State will work with local governments to identify gaps in coverage and develop plans to fill those gaps. It discusses current broadband availability in the State, non-state and local actors, initiatives undertaken by other states to increase broadband availability, what Virginia is currently doing, and recommendations for policies that would improve these efforts.

In this video, two officials from West Lafayette, Indiana—Chief Innovation and Collaboration Officer David Broecker and Vice President of Innovation and Technology Troy Hege—lay out their vision for a neutral host infrastructure in the city. They hope the project will spark competition and innovation, including building out a private cellular network and Wi-Fi access for new services.

In this video, Philadelphia Smart City Director Emily Yates talks about data privacy, the digital divide, the need for public-private partnerships, and Philadelphia’s pitch and pilot program. She also discusses why the city is partnering with US Ignite and mentions the challenges the city is hoping to address with through technology.

This playbook from US Ignite is a transcription of the Ignite on Air podcast, in which leaders from American cities shared their experiences with smart city small cells. They describe their interactions with wireless carriers and provide insight related to permitting, deployment strategies, and revenue opportunities.

This resource is a collection of lessons gathered from US Ignite's 2018 workshop on deploying wireless networking equipment, small cell sites, public Wi-Fi, and Internet of Things sensors. The playbook combines insights from local government, industry, and nonprofit organizations.

This resource collects examples of how Project OVERCOME helped deploy novel broadband technology solutions to underserved communities in both rural and urban settings. Implementing a technological solution is only part of the challenge, while another major piece is to encourage community engagement. The communities that benefitted from Project OVERCOME programs used different methods to engage community members, such as ice cream socials and community building projects.

This news piece details the impact of a Project OVERCOME grant in the Blue River community that was ravaged by a fire that destroyed the area's communications infrastructure. The grant allowed the community to rebuild the area's Internet infrastructure. Based on the lesson learned, the community designed a solar powered steel communications tower that is more resilient and less vulnerable to fire.

This brief from the Urban Institute is part of a larger project exploring how innovative policies and programs from abroad can inform state and local efforts in the US to advance an inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Welsh program identified during the global search, Superfast Cymru, has the potential to inform U.S. policymakers seeking to close access gaps.

This report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), published in September 2021, explains the steps the FCC is taking to improve the accuracy of its broadband deployment mapping, as required by the 2020 Broadband DATA Act. The GAO reviewed relevant statutes, regulations, FCC documents, and its own work on broadband mapping; interviewed federal officials and representatives from the telecommunications industry; and researched how all states and territories are gathering their mapping data.

‍

A report from May 2013 that presents an overview of successful practices used by state Departments of Transportation to facilitate broadband deployment along highway rights of way. It identifies wireline broadband deployment approaches and recommends state incentives for usage of conduit and rights of way, resource sharing to reduce deployment time, and dig once policies.

‍

This 2017 legislation makes changes to the state's broadband accessibility grant program, referred to as the "program," to promote the deployment and adoption of broadband access services. It also directs the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations to prepare a report updating its January 2017 report on broadband in the state.

This amendment to the San Francisco Police Code prohibits owners of multiple occupancy buildings from preventing occupants from choosing their own communications services provider. The ordinance also establishes requirements for providers to access the buildings and creates penalties for owners who do not comply.

‍

‍

This 2015 report from the Rhode Island General Assembly discusses that while the State's broadband infrastructure is highly ranked, areas with no coverage still exist. The report makes recommendations on how to increase access to these underserved communities.