At Broadband Communities’ 2019 economic development conference, held in October in Alexandria, Virginia, participants shared stories about how communities are improving broadband access to facilitate economic development, digital literacy and consumer choices. Following are some of the highlights of the conference sessions.

Broadband is essential to a community’s survival, but building out service to rural areas comes with financial challenges. Service providers have several options to help.

At the Broadband Communities economic development conference in October, FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks delivered a powerful call to make internet inequality across the United States a thing of the past. A data-driven review of what has and hasn’t worked over the past 10 years will help determine the path forward, he says.

As open FTTH networks emerge again in the United States, investors dedicate capital to community networks that will support an array of traditional internet, telehealth and building management services.

In Sweden, municipal broadband is the rule rather than the exception. That changes everything.

Ocala adds residential internet-only FTTH services to a multipurpose fiber network that will help it become a smart city.

5G, CBRS and Wi-Fi wireless services all have a place. Building owners and developers can choose one that best meets their specific needs.

Building out a 5G network will require a new set of network standards and operational methods. Operators should establish a set of best practices around planning, cost-to-revenue analysis, and architecture choices.

With school connectivity goals accomplished, the program prepares to end, leaving new programs in place to make sure the classroom gap stays closed.

Individuals and government alike worry about TikTok’s foreign ownership.

National policy is muddled, contradictory and almost certainly more drastic than security needs require. But facts don’t really seem to matter these days.

Every community shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel.

The agency looks to deliver on rural broadband promises.

At least 28 states now offer some form of subsidy for broadband deployers serving rural or disadvantaged areas. But high costs of validating business plans often make the funds hard to get.

The proposed rules favor grant bidders who least need the money and are unlikely to bring permanent, high-quality broadband to rural areas.

Independents set stake in the growing MDU broadband market by focusing on providing good customer service and doing things the right way. Their approach benefits property owners and residents alike.

There’s evidence, but no promise, that a usable National Broadband Map is on the way. It will be awhile. We’re watching – and using artificial intelligence (AI) software to check.

The digital divide is widening. Without public and private policy changes, we’ll lose the battle for universal access.

As Congress and the FCC look for solutions to fix the problem of broadband mapping, they should consider a variety of factors, including speeds, prices, availability and reliability of service and competition.

Insufficient government maps, plant records and marketing are a few of the challenges to accessing accurate data.

Hobbled by lack of technical insight on telecom trade, government policy remains muddled – and dangerous for network deployers.

Minnesota’s state broadband grant program has been praised as one of the nation’s best – but that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved, according to the bill’s author.

Proponents bill it as a win for apartment residents and owners, but apartment owners say the recently enacted San Francisco MDU ordinance ultimately creates more hurdles for delivering high-quality connectivity.

For many small communities, the USDA’s latest grant program may be too complex to be worth applying for.

Providers should explore the possible implications of the rule change and share comments with the FCC.

Worried about political opposition to buying from Huawei? Here’s a short guide and a possible solution.

To encourage new, local broadband providers, consider easing the regulatory burdens that make starting a new broadband venture costly.

Delivering great broadband to everyone in a community requires thinking about broadband in a new way. Some cities have already made that shift.

The Department of Agriculture experiments with new ways to drive rural broadband deployment.

Lesson learned: It does not pay to run roughshod over local concerns. The FCC finds out the hard way.

This issue of the magazine offers an advance look at 2019 Summit program highlights.

Do you hope to serve a rural area that already has some broadband service?  Work around it. Literally.

Why every 5G discussion turns to fiber infrastructure: The new head of the Fiber Broadband Association shares her vision of the industry.

The passage of the Agricultural Improvement Act and the opening of a funding window for the ReConnect program will help narrow the rural digital divide.

Hundreds of electric co-ops are considering deployment of residential or business broadband – and almost all want to use fiber.

Pole attachments have long been a problem for fiber overbuilders that need access to utility poles. With its new one-touch-make-ready rule, the FCC weighed in on their side.

The RUS has new funds to spend on connecting unserved areas. But how can applicants prove an area is unserved?

Auction winners will likely serve between 200,000 and 400,000 rural households and businesses – at best, about 40 percent of those eligible.

Regulations for spending the $600 million appropriated in March for rural broadband will be slow in coming. Here’s why.

If you’re wondering which rural broadband funding programs to apply for – or which will solve the rural broadband problem – here’s a brief primer.

Highlights of the 2018 Broadband Communities Summit held in May in Austin, Texas

The Broadband Communities Summit brings together participants in the multifamily, rural, economic development, technology and policy worlds. This issue of the magazine has something for all of them.

Use Broadband Communities’ free financial modeling tools to navigate the startling changes in broadband’s financial environment. And don’t trust Wall Street.

The FCC and a congressional committee are wrestling with recommendations to overcome the digital divide. Meanwhile, several innovative proposals before the Kansas House of Representatives offer simpler approaches to fund rural broadband.

In March, 36 local elected officials from Next Century Cities member communities sent the following letter to the FCC in defense of local decision-making for 5G investments, small-cell deployment and the use of public rights-of-way.

The evolution of technology is enabling cable companies to transition gradually to all-fiber networks.

Springtime was especially good to rural broadband hopefuls, with new money and potentially more flexible ways of disbursement.

What will it take to solve the problem?

Technology, economics and political change are driving a very special Broadband Communities Summit this year.

Deployments of fiber to the home in North America reached record levels in 2017, and according to all indications, they will continue to increase in 2018.

Here’s a good-news story: The drive to provide high-quality internet service to U.S. schools has made tremendous progress, and the goal of universal connectivity is within sight.

Economic development in rural areas depends on broadband access – but the FCC’s current initiatives won’t help.

The FCC’s Connect America Phase II reverse auction gives competitive providers a shot at getting USF support to build broadband networks in unserved rural areas where incumbent providers have chosen not to build. The process is complicated – at best.

In its annual assessment of the state of advanced telecommunications capability, the FCC should forget about speed and focus on the capacity to provide an excellent broadband experience.

The FCC stacks the deck against broadband in rural and poor urban districts.

At the 2017 Broadband Communities Summit, held in Dallas in May, fiber deployers shared their experiences and vendors displayed their new technology.

Bulk billing is in the crosshairs of the FCC’s most recent broadband notice of inquiry.

How can state legislators help spread the gigabit wealth to more constituents? That’s not a rhetorical question – this legislator is looking for new ideas.

Rural Georgians were falling ever further behind their metropolitan neighbors in terms of broadband access. Now the state legislature is preparing a comprehensive initiative to address the problem.

The United States needs two regulatory roads – one for urban areas and one for rural.