Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced the creation a new public-private partnership to support the development of a statewide, fiber broadband infrastructure with a focus on supporting economic and social prosperity across the commonwealth. The ambitious initiative would provide the entire state with high-speed internet – with the first components scheduled to be operational in less than two years. When completed, the more than 3,000 miles of fiber will be in place across the state.

New York Gov. Cuomo unveiled a $1 billion public-private broadband program to ensure every New Yorker has access to high-speed Internet by 2019. Utilizing capital funds from bank settlements, the state will commit $500 million to the New NY Broadband Program with the intent of incentivizing the private sector to invest the additional $500 million to expand high-speed broadband access in underserved and unserved areas. To receive funding, the proposed plan must meet three qualifications:

Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to classify broadband as a public utility. Once rules have been put in place this summer, providers will no longer be able to selectively block access to legal content, throttle access based on content or services or offer paid prioritization of traffic. In addition, the FCC also voted to preempt state laws that impair the deployment of community broadband providers.

Throughout the United States, innovation districts have been proposed with varying degrees of emphasis on inclusivity and opportunity.

Because existing evidence points to the presence of broadband as having a positive connection to the economic health in rural areas, numerous states and the federal government have made increasing broadband in these places a top priority. In particular, many rural areas view broadband as an important tool in attracting entrepreneurs and other creative-class employees. Although this tactic is well intentioned, new research suggests that the association between expanded rural broadband availability and the proliferation of entrepreneurship and creative-class employees may not be as strong as one might think, and that the relationship may actually be negative.

The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled against the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) plan that would allow municipalities to build their own broadband network – superseding state laws in Tennessee and North Carolina that explicitly prohibit such projects. The FCC claimed that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 granted it implicit power to preempt state laws that are intended to support open markets for private-sector utility companies.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the National Science Foundation have released The National Broadband Research Agenda, a report detailing key priorities for broadband research and data. Despite significant advances in broadband connectivity, disparities remain in access, adoption and choice.

Broadband connectivity is foundational for regional competitiveness in the global economy, prompting more states and communities to develop innovative solutions to expand high-quality broadband access for their businesses, residents, education systems and public sector. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam provided one of the most recent examples of the trend by signing legislation making it easier for municipalities and cooperative boards to deliver broadband connectivity in underrepresented communities throughout the Volunteer State. Considerable socioeconomic and political challenges remain for communities interested in providing broadband service at the municipal level.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last month the availability of more than $11 million in grants to support rural broadband through its Community Connect grant program, which seeks to help fund broadband deployment into rural communities where it is not yet economically viable for private sector providers to deliver service. For FY 2016, the minimum grant amount is $100,000, while the maximum award is $3 million.

A month after a federal court ruled that high-speed Internet service can be defined as a utility, four states have announced commitments to expand high quality, reliable broadband services to rural areas and other underrepresented groups. Two Midwest states, Wisconsin and Minnesota, will provide funding to help support projects that improve access to broadband and spur economic prosperity.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released its latest broadband report. The report provides summarized data on Internet access connections in the U.S. (over 200 kilobits per second in at least one direction). Key findings include the number of broadband connections with downstream speeds of at least 10 Mbps increased by 118% in the U.S. between June 2012 and June 2013.

The Federal Communications Commission announced a round of funding for rural broadband experiments in price cap areas that will deploy new, robust broadband to consumers. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration released a series of reports on its broadband grant programs.

Earlier this week during a keynote address at the United Nations, a U.S. Department of State official unveiled an initiative to bring 1.5 billion people around the world online by 2020. Global Connect, the new initiative, will be a cross-agency effort to make Internet access a top priority in foreign policy. The State Department announcement explicitly states that Internet access is being made a priority because of its role in entrepreneurship, innovation, knowledge flows and market creation.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam recently announced a new fund to support economic development in rural parts of the state. While most of the $8 million (approximately $7 million) is designated for shovel-ready economic development sites and tourism projects, the state will commit $600,000 for economic development grants to support entrepreneurship in small towns across the state including $300,000 to support a Main Street Business Incubator Program for downtown business districts.

For many states, broadband connectivity is becoming an increasingly important tool used to improve the economic well-being of residents, especially in rural areas. While some have paved the way for publicly funded municipal broadband providers, others, such as North Carolina and Tennessee, have filed suit with the Federal Communications Commission and joined the telecommunications industry in their opposition.

AT&T has announced a new partnership with three U.S. metros to establish a Smart Cities Framework using Internet of Things (IoT) innovations to create solutions for cities. In the first stage of the effort, Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas will showcase the potential use of sensors and other Internet-connected technologies to improve municipal services. In addition to existing services offered by AT&T, the new framework adds several new services in four categories: infrastructure; citizen engagement; transportation; and, public safety.