Phase two of the Connect America Fund (CAF II) will offer some $1.7 billion annually through 2020 to AT&T, CenturyLink, Frontier, Windstream, and Verizon for rural broadband.

CenturyLink plans to expand its fiber network service from its present locations in Omaha, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City to metro areas around the West and Mid-West.

?As broadband rapidly replaces voice service as the basic communications tool for our era, the FCC should rapidly update Lifeline to match the times," wrote the LCCHR.

Five years ago, Blair Levin oversaw the development of the National Broadband Plan; now, he's beginning a look back with Celebrating a Fifth O?Planniversary, on the Benton Foundation?s website.

Analyst Craig Moffett wrote, ?Google Fiber is a bit like Ebola: very scary and something to be taken seriously. [However] it gets more press attention than it deserves.?

?Most consumers and policymakers view mobile broadband connections as being complementary, rather than a replacement for, wireline broadband connections,? wrote NTCA.

In 2014, 3 million new broadband users signed up: 2.7 million with cable firms and the rest with AT&T and Verizon.

As Andrew Schwartzman, long-time public interest media advocate, points out in his daily blog post, Google?s Kansas City project only benefited some.

Recently, CenturyLink announced that it was extending its 1 Gbps service from Salt Lake City and suburbs to southern Utah ? but specifically for businesses.

AT&T is adding seven new cities to its 75 Mbps service, using existing copper wire broadband networks.