Internet trade groups and the state of Vermont agreed Monday to continue staying litigation over the state's net neutrality laws until the Ninth Circuit resolves the question of whether California can impose similar restrictions on internet services.
Washington’s tech industry hasn’t been immune to the pandemic. Companies such as the IT giant DXC and the event-organizing platform Cvent cut jobs amid the slowdown. But some, including the hot cloud-computing company Appian, committed to hundreds of new hires.
Indeed, plenty of other good business news came from Washingtonian’s Tech Titans during the past year. Our 2021 winners who were selected through both reporting and an informal process of nominations from their peers managed to start up new and innovative companies, close on huge funding rounds, ink massive contracts, and announce initial public offerings.
Some of this year’s Tech Titans expanded their companies not only in spite of the pandemic but because of it. Michael Chasen, founder of the “edtech” firm Blackboard, leveraged the demand for at-home education to launch Class, a company that creates virtual classrooms using Zoom. Class has already raised more than $40 million. Blake Hall, founder of ID.me, wh
Eight-year programme to provide future-proof fast broadband at affordable prices
US Internet access remains very expensive compared to Europe and the Far East
Emphasis will now be on municipal broadband networks and not-for-profit companies
US President Joe Biden has put his Vice President, Kamala Harris, in charge of his administration s massive initiative to finally bridge the nation s still deep and wide digital divide. The broadband for all plan is a central plank in his massive US$2.3 trillion project to modernise the country s infrastructure. Billed as a once in a generation investment in America itself , the president outlined his American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan at a joint session of the US Congress on the eve of his first 100 days in office.
Eighteen states currently make it prohibitively difficult for towns to consider local internet service options.
Just 14% of adults said local governments should not be allowed to consider municipal broadband options.
As the pandemic continues to underscore the importance of reliable, at-home internet service, debate rages over whether local governments should be permitted to build out and run their own broadband networks, either on their own or with the help of a private partner.
The White House, in its infrastructure proposal released earlier this month, has thrown its support behind allowing municipalities to explore such options. And a new Morning Consult poll suggests many adults agree with that stance: 53 percent of U.S. adults said local governments should be able to explore having their own internet services but they tend to trust local governments less than private internet companies to carry out the job on their own.
FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
Mark Arnold, Telecommunications Director for Kutztown, poses for a portrait in front of the historic train station in Kutztown, Pa. on Friday, April 23, 2021. President Joe Biden s $2 trillion infrastructure plan aims to expand internet access by building more publicly-owned broadband networks. Kutztown runs one of 200 city-wide broadband networks across the country that offer internet service. (HEATHER KHALIFA/The Phildadelphia Inquirer/TNS)
Biden wants local governments to provide broadband internet. Could they compete with Comcast and Verizon?
Christian Hetrick, The Philadelphia Inquirer, (TNS)
The rural borough of Kutztown, Pa., couldn’t convince companies to bring faster internet to its community. So the town, about 70 miles northwest of Philadelphia, built its own broadband network.