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How a small Kentucky town was 10 years ahead of the government

Aug 28, 2024
As the federal government tries to connect every home to high-speed internet by 2030, Kai Ryssdal visits a Kentucky town that already did that — 10 years ago.
An early transition toward high-speed fiber internet has transformed some American communities.
Andie Corban/Marketplace

In national broadband rollout, rural landscapes pose a challenge

Aug 27, 2024
The government is spending billions to expand internet access. But distance, low housing density and other factors complicate the plan.
Chip Spann of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration gave Marketplace's Kai Ryssdal a tour of sites related to Kentucky's broadband expansion.
Sarah Leeson/Marketplace

The U.S. is investing billions of dollars in fiber internet. Here's what makes it run.

Aug 26, 2024
We tour a North Carolina plant where melted glass is pulled into the hair-like strands that power fiber-optic cable.
Manufacturers like Prysmian supply fiber-optic cables to internet service providers.
Andie Corban/Marketplace

Libraries are essential for internet access, even as national broadband projects ramp up

Aug 23, 2024
The federal government wants to bring fiber connections to every home. In the meantime, some areas will still rely on the library.
Debra Lawson, director of the Spencer County Public Library, says she doesn't know what some patrons would do without the library's internet access. "The way they use our computers, they're participating in society," she says.
Andie Corban/Marketplace

Broadband "nutrition labels" help you comparison shop for cable

Apr 11, 2024
Instead of tracking added sugar and fiber, they measure added fees and fiber speed.
An example of what a "broadband nutrition label" would look like.
Courtesy Federal Communications Commission

There's a corner of the internet where YouTubers read strangers' obituaries. Why?

"It's quite a tasteless pursuit, but it seems as though it's a pursuit driven by desperation, like they are casting around looking for ways to make money online," WIRED reporter Kate Knibbs said of the YouTube obituary pirates.
Searching the name of a recently deceased person can bring up a flood of these YouTube obituary videos.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

E-commerce and running a business 24/7

Jun 9, 2023
In a world connected via the internet, small businesses are taking advantage of social media to promote their brand.
Remark Glass recycles used bottles and glass to create unique molten products like rock glasses and vases.
Stevie Chris

For public good, not for profit.

Congress hasn't had the best record of regulating new tech. Could AI be different?

May 16, 2023
Generative artificial intelligence is advancing quickly, and it's not clear if legislators and regulators can keep up.
Samuel Altman, CEO of OpenAI, testifies before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the use and regulation of artificial intelligence.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

How undersea internet cables connect the global economy

The U.S. and China are competing for control over these vital pieces of infrastructure.
Technicians work on undersea cable in December 2005. Undersea internet cables "carry about 99% of all our telecommunications," said James Kraska at the U.S. Naval War College.
Stephan Agostini/AFP via Getty Images

States, communities struggle to meet deadline in broadband funding process

Jan 13, 2023
The deadline is this week to file challenges to FCC maps that will be used to dole out $42.5 billion in funding.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act provides about $42.5 billion in funding to expand broadband access, but the application deadline is fast approaching and some states are looking for more time.
Sandra Mu/Getty Images