1. Monthly archive
  2. September 2020

September 2020

How courageous schools partnering with local communities can overcome digital inequalities during COVID-19

Leveraging high-speed broadband access, I present several ideas for ensuring all K-12 students can learn during a time of in-person schooling shutdowns and other uncertainties: transform vacant local establishments into classrooms and provide technology access through unused business equipment; enable Wi-Fi in federally assisted housing or in parked school buses; reconfigure digital parking lots into digital parks; and utilize local organizations to help solve local digital access challenges.

Big Tech spent millions to close California’s digital divide this year. It’s hardly making a dent.

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, California estimated that 1 million of its 6.2 million school kids didn't have the equipment they needed for virtual learning, prompting leaders from across the tech industry to immediately open their wallets to help. But six months later, with school back in session, only a fraction of the devices those contributions were supposed to purchase are actually in students' hands. Amassing these donations, it turns out, was the easy part.

Data on Internet Access Services as of December 31, 2018

Total Internet connections increased by about 4.9% between December 2017 and December 2018 to 441 million. Mobile Internet connections increased 5.7% year-over-year to 331 million in December 2018, while fixed connections grew to 111 million – up about 2.5% from December 2017. Over 54% of connections were at 100 Mbps or more (downstream). Nearly 75% of connections were 25 Mbps or more. The median downstream speed of all reported fixed connections was 100 Mbps.

Data on Internet Access Services as of June 30, 2018

Total Internet connections increased by about 4.9% between June 2017 and June 2018 to 429 million. Mobile Internet connections increased 5.7% year-over-year to 320 million in June 2018, while fixed connections grew to 109 million – up about 2.8% from June 2017. Nearly 48% of connections were at 100 Mbps or more (downstream). Over 73% of connections were 25 Mbps or more. The percentage of fixed connections with a downstream speed of at least 25 Mbps has grown from 50% (or 50 million connections) in June 2015 to 74% (or 80 million connections) in June 2018.

California Defends Its Net Neutrality Law

California filed a brief in the lawsuit by the United States and Internet service providers like AT&T and Comcast that seeks to overturn California’s net neutrality law.

Judge green lights Frontier's bankruptcy exit financing

Frontier Communications received a judge's stamp of approval for its bankruptcy exit financing. In the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Robert Drain approved Frontier's bankruptcy exit financing after the motion was unopposed by other stakeholders. 

Kenergy waiting for Kentucky to move forward on broadband project

Kenergy, an electric cooperative looking to provide broadband internet to unserved areas in west Kentucky, is waiting for the state to approve a waiver that would allow the project to move forward. Kenergy provides electricity to members in 14 counties. The nonprofit cooperative is hoping to eventually provide high-speed internet services to more than 44,000 unserved home and business members as well. But there is a hurdle. Under Kentucky law, regulated cooperatives, like Kenergy, can only borrow money to provide electricity — not for other services, like broadband.

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