Statewide broadband gets a boost

By Stephen Rickerl/The Southern

CARBONDALE - A new website launched Wednesday by Connect Illinois offers users new tools that they hope will narrow the digital divide.

Link to full article here.

ESRI Broadband Mapping Debuts on Capitol Hill

By GISCafe.com

ESRI's BroadbandStat, a new application for mapping, analyzing, and validating data about high-speed Internet availability, debuted on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in January. ESRI demonstrated the application to policy makers, industry executives, and government agency representatives at two venues, the Technology Policy Exhibition and State of the Net Conference.

Link to article here.

Online Broadband Mapping Tool May Help Local Governments Land Stimulus Funds

By Jeffrey Rubenstone/Engineering News-Record

Mapping existing broadband service is a requirement for states angling for a piece of the roughly $4.2 billion in matching American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for high-speed Internet expansion. But with a deadline approaching, states and municipalities have been scrambling to find the data.

Read more at Engineering News-Record (subscription required)

Ky. gets funds for high-speed access to Web

By Jenna Mink/The Daily News (Bowling Green, KY)

Connected Nation targets communities that lack efficient service and works to get better access

These days, Teresa Perkins gets calls from people as far away as Florida, who want to purchase something from her Franklin gift shop - thanks to the World Wide Web.

Kentucky recently received $2.1 million in federal stimulus funds to help bring high-speed Internet to more people. The money will be used to collect data on areas that lack broadband Internet and help improve those services. Those efforts could, in turn, impact local economies and the livelihood of residents, experts say.

Learn more about ConnectKentucky and Connected Nation

Kentucky broadband effort a national model

by Tom Eblen/The Lexington Herald-Leader

A century ago, farm-to-market roads were the new infrastructure Kentucky needed to move its economy forward. A half-century ago, it was interstates and parkways.

Now, it’s the information superhighway.

Link to article here.