Arkansas State Broadband Office starting months-long mapping challenge

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

The Arkansas State Broadband Office will launch its Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) mapping challenge process on Wednesday, March 20.

The months-long process will enable stakeholders in Arkansas to challenge the accuracy of the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Map and the levels of internet service reported at homes and businesses throughout the state. Stakeholders will be able to challenge data provided by the map but must submit evidence of the inaccuracies.

Eligible challengers in this process include units of local government, nonprofit organizations, and internet service providers, under federal BEAD program regulations.

Arkansas State Broadband Office starting months-long mapping challenge

Arkansas to begin identifying areas lacking broadband internet access

KUAR | By Daniel Breen

Federal officials are asking for Arkansas residents’ help identifying which parts of the state still lack access to high-speed internet.

Arkansas is receiving more than $1 billion from the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment, or BEAD, program, administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Evan Feinman, director of the BEAD program, says the state first needs to identify which areas are currently lacking access.

“Every single home and business is on a map the [Federal Communications Commission] publishes. And the FCC’s map shows whether those homes and businesses have broadband service, or don’t. The problem is, that map’s not always accurate,” he said. “What we’re doing… is offering folks the opportunity to challenge that map and make sure their home or business is properly categorized.”

Arkansas to begin identifying areas lacking broadband internet access

Ted S. Warren/AP

Carl Roath, left, a worker with the Mason County (Wash.) Public Utility District, pulls fiber optic cable off of a spool, as he works with a team to install broadband internet service to homes in a rural area surrounding Lake Christine near Belfair, Wash., on Aug. 4, 2021.

UAMS Receives $1 Million FCC Grant to Enroll Arkansans in Affordable Connectivity Program for Broadband Internet

By Benjamin Waldrum

LITTLE ROCK — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) awarded the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) $1 million to fund outreach for the commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program, which helps ensure that households across America have access to broadband internet.

The FCC created the Affordable Connectivity Program to help households struggling to pay for internet service. The benefit provides up to $30 per month for internet service and a one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, desktop computer or tablet purchased through participating providers.

“The UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation is committed to seeing affordable, easily accessible broadband in homes throughout Arkansas, and this funding will allow us to collaborate with other leaders statewide to do just that,” said Roy Kitchen, executive director for UAMS e-Link and the principal investigator on the grant.

https://news.uams.edu/2023/07/11/uams-receives-1-million-fcc-grant-to-enroll-arkansans-in-affordable-connectivity-program-for-broadband-internet/

Attorney General Rutledge Continues to Combat robocalls with FCC and 40 states

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge joins 40 other attorneys general acknowledging the Federal Communications Commission’s ongoing work to combat robocalls. In the letter attorneys general sent to the Commission, they recognized the FCC’s work encouraging states to join information-sharing agreements and collaboratively address complex robocalls issues.

“I have long been determined to end incessant robocalls and protect Arkansans from these con artists,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “Even though we have made strides to stop these illegal calls, we still have a long way to go, and I am hopeful a combined effort with states and the FCC will continue to combat and eliminate robocalls.”

Attorney General Rutledge has led the national effort by state attorneys general to demand stronger oversight by the FCC by requiring telecommunication providers to aggressively block illegal robocalls before they reach consumers. Rutledge has consistently pushed the FCC to implement rules and policies to make telephone carriers more responsible to identify and block these calls and to hold the providers liable for allowing these calls to pass through their networks. Rutledge brought together state and federal partners, as well as representatives of the telecommunications industry, to develop effective and innovative methods to stop the scourge of these persistent calls.

Along with Rutledge, 40 other states and territories signed the letter. They are: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.