BETTER BROADBAND BUILDS STRONGER COMMUNITIES

During this edition of Lunch and Learn we'll talk with Renee Knoop of Consortia Consulting about the steps providers need to take to participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program. The CBAN team will also talk about how states are in the process of forming their own broadband offices to administer federal grant programs; how Starlink is just the tip of a coming iceberg of satellite broadband; and how today's supply chain issues will impact future broadband costs.

The Impact of COVID-19 on America’s Libraries
CBAN discusses how libraries have responded to the Coronavirus pandemic with a panel of librarians and library advocates. Our guests are Larra Clark, Deputy Director of the Public Library Association; Natalie Caula-Hauff, Deputy Director of Innovation at the Charleston County, South Carolina Public Library, and Joan Grothoff, Director of the Eldora, Iowa Public Library. In particular, the panel will discuss how libraries played a vital role in keeping American’s connected during the pandemic for education, health care, and remote work.

CBAN co-founders Curtis Dean, Todd Kielkopf, and Jon Anne Willow will also discuss the Affordable Connectivity Program, funded through the recent federal infrastructure bill, that provides a $30 monthly internet service subsidy for low-income Americans.

As we wind down the year 2021, the CBAN team will look back at some of the primary developments in community broadband this year. We'll have a conversation with Doug Dawson of CCG Consulting about what his crystal ball shows for 2022. And we'll discuss some of the exciting changes that CBAN has planned for next year.

Guest-Jim Baller, KH Law, Washington, D.C.

Jim Baller with Keller and Heckman LLP is a long-time advocate for local internet choice through public-private partnerships and municipal broadband networks. During our Lunch and Learn we discussed a broad range of topics related to the role of nation policy in broadband deployment, including:

--The new federal infrastructure bill and its broadband elements
--The new nominees at the Federal Communications Commission and where they stand on community-based broadband
--Impact of small cell rules on municipalities
--Provider choice in apartments
--And more!

The CBAN team will host a discussion with Christopher Ali, author of the upcoming book "Farm Fresh Broadband - The Politics of Rural Connectivity". Ali's book features an analysis of the failure of U.S. broadband policy to solve the rural-urban digital divide and offers proposals for a new national rural broadband plan. We look forward to visiting with Christopher and sharing his perspectives of how to bring better broadband to more Americans!

CBAN's next Lunch and Learn will feature a panel discussion with representatives of three state broadband programs, discussing the ways that states are taking the lead in bringing better broadband to unserved areas.

We'll be talking about the similarities and differences between the approaches taken by the states of Colorado, Iowa, and Maine when it comes to implementing state broadband programs.

Hosts
--Curtis Dean & Todd Kielkopf, CBAN
Panelists
--Matt Behrens, CTO, State of Iowa
--Antonio Martinez, Executive Director, Colorado Broadband
--Peggy Schaffer, Director of Connect Maine