News and Updates
Red Bird Mission Urges Kentucky Public Service Commission to Expand Broadband to Unserved, Appalachian Communities
On Monday, the Executive Director of Red Bird Mission and Red Bird Clinic Kari Collins penned an op-ed in the Lexington Herald-Leader urging leaders in Frankfort and at the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) to expand affordable broadband service to rural Kentucky communities who need it most. Read more here.
Kentucky Academy of Physicians: “Telehealth Depends on Broadband”
Over the past year, telehealth has proven to be an invaluable tool for health providers across Kentucky working to ensure that our patients can access vital medical care and other critical health services during the pandemic. Read more here.
Connect the Future Kentucky Coalition Supporter Spotlight: Teach For America Appalachia
Eleven years ago, Teach For America Appalachia (TFA Appalachia) began partnering with communities across Eastern Kentucky to provide an excellent education for students in the mountains. Read more here.
Survey Underscores Strong, Bipartisan Public Support for Policies to Expand Kentucky Rural Broadband Access
Connect the Future Kentucky (CTF) today released the results of a new survey examining public opinion on efforts to accelerate broadband deployment to underserved communities in the Commonwealth. Read more here.
Connect The Future Kentucky Coalition Supporter Spotlight: Red Bird Mission
For nearly a century, Red Bird Mission has worked to provide critical services to some of the most rural, isolated, and distressed communities in Southeast Kentucky. Read more here.
New Pegasus Institute Report Details Steps to Remove Barriers to Broadband Expansion and Get Rural Kentucky Connected
Access to reliable, high-speed broadband internet is now more important than ever before. Kentuckians all across the Commonwealth have transitioned to working, learning, accessing services, and running their businesses from home, none of which are possible without reliable internet access. Read more here.
MESSENGER-INQUIRER: COVID exposes Kentucky’s digital gap
Kentucky’s digital divide expands as the COVID-19 pandemic creeps into its sixth month. Read more here.
Rural families without internet face tough choice on school
John Ross worries about his children returning to their classrooms this fall with coronavirus cases rising in Kentucky, but he feels he doesn’t have much of a choice: His family’s limited internet access makes it nearly impossible for the kids to keep up with schoolwork from home. Read more here.
CTF Kentucky Coalition Supporter Spotlight: Kentucky Youth Advocates
Kentucky Youth Advocates was founded with the mission of creating a better Kentucky for all of our children. Read more here.
Teach for America Appalachia, Connect the Future KY & Charter Communications: Broadband Access Critical to KY Students’ Success
As this past year has proven, reliable access to high-speed broadband is critical to Kentucky students’ educational success – and yet far too many remain on the wrong side of the “homework gap,” unable to attend virtual classes or complete online assignments. Read more here.
Closing Kentucky’s Digital Divide: the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF)
Recently, the federal government announced that 11 Kentucky broadband providers have been awarded nearly $149 million dollars in support to build out broadband infrastructure to nearly 99,000 locations across the Commonwealth that don’t have access to broadband. Read more here.
Louisville Metro Report: Pole Attachments Among Deployment Challenges to Broadband Buildout
Louisville is a well-connected, future-ready city where multiple private providers have invested to offer near-universal access to Gigabit broadband speeds. Read more here.
Kentucky Public Service Commission Public Workshop on Pole Attachments
This Thursday, December 17th, the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) is holding a public workshop on the current pole attachment proceeding, which include proposals that address the currently complex and costly process of building out broadband, which requires access to utility poles. Read more here.
Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky’s digital divide is a challenge for kids trying to learn in cities, rural towns
In Kentucky’s western coalfield region, Ashley Hale’s 11-year-old son had to manage virtual learning since the spring with spotty internet. Read more here.
Kentucky Farm Bureau providing nearly 200 free Wi-Fi hotspots statewide
Earlier today, Kentucky Farm Bureau activated a free, public Wi-Fi internet signal from 155 of its locations statewide and announced its plan to make that same signal available at its remaining 42 offices over the next several weeks. Read more here.
USDA: USDA Invests $55.3 Million in Broadband for Rural Kentucky and Tennessee Communities
Today, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Donald “DJ” LaVoy announced USDA has invested $55.3 million in four, high-speed broadband infrastructure projects in rural Kentucky. Read more here.