While More Americans Rely on Parking Lot Wi-Fi, Many Public Libraries Do Not Have Adequate Broadband
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
May 2020
You’ve Got Mail...Finally: The Pandemic Is Jamming Up the World’s Post (Wall Street Journal)
Submitted by benton on Wed, 05/06/2020 - 06:36
Op-ed
Op-ed
FCC Receives Over 180 RDOF Eligible Area Challenges, Including Some Big Ones from WISPs
The Federal Communications Commission has received challenges from about 180 entities that have stated that they provide broadband at speeds of at least 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream, along with voice service, to at least part of census blocks that were on the commission’s preliminary list of areas eligible for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) reverse auction scheduled to start in Oct.
State, Local Government Face New Reality for 2020 U.S. Census
Stakeholders at all levels of government — federal, state, and local — are pivoting to stay flexible and get creative around the Census amid an unprecedented set of new challenges. While increasing online outreach is helpful to some, it’s also problematic in a place like Detroit, where many residents are on the challenging side of the digital divide, without access to technology or a reliable high-speed Internet connection at home.
How Local Providers Built the Nation's Best Internet Access in Rural North Dakota
Rural North Dakotans are more likely to have access to fiber connectivity and gigabit-speed Internet than those living in urban areas. This case study highlights the efforts of 15 local companies and telephone cooperatives who came together to invest in rural North Dakota and build gigabit fiber networks across the state. Their success is traced back to the companies’ acquisition of 68 rural telephone exchanges from monpoloy provider US West (now CenturyLink) in the 1990s.
Why Rural America’s Digital Divide Persists
A Q&A with New York Times technology reporter Cecilia Kang.
Pandemic accellerates shift toward telecommuting (Axios)
Submitted by benton on Tue, 05/05/2020 - 14:48Should Schools Pay for Teachers' Internet Access? (Education Week)
Submitted by benton on Tue, 05/05/2020 - 14:46Coronavirus crisis highlights digital divide in South Carolina, state education superintendent says
The novel coronavirus crisis has accentuated the digital divide in South Carolina as well as the need for greater internet access, suggested Molly Spearman, the SC education superintendent.