1. Monthly archive
  2. June 2021

June 2021

Department of Commerce’s NTIA Announces Nearly $1 Billion in Funding to Expand Broadband on Tribal Land

Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced at the White House the availability of nearly $1 billion in US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) grants to expand broadband access and adoption on Tribal land. The leaders called for significant broadband investments in the American Jobs Plan to make affordable high-speed internet available to all Americans. 

34% of lower-income home broadband users have had trouble paying for their service amid COVID-19

Some 15% of home broadband users in the US say they have had trouble paying for their high-speed internet service during the coronavirus outbreak. That includes 34% of those with household incomes of less than $30,000 a year. A quarter of home broadband users with annual household incomes ranging from $30,000 to just under $50,000 say they have had trouble doing so in the pandemic, as have roughly one-in-ten (8%) with household incomes ranging from $50,000 to $74,999. There are also differences by Americans’ educational attainment.

Mobile Technology and Home Broadband 2021

Smartphone ownership (85%) and home broadband subscriptions (77%) have increased among American adults since 2019 – from 81% and 73% respectively. Though modest, both increases are statistically significant and come at a time when a majority of Americans say the internet has been important to them personally. And 91% of adults report having at least one of these technologies. A Pew Research Center survey also finds that some Americans have difficulties when trying to go online.

Electricity transformed rural America nearly a century ago. Now, millions of people on farms and in small towns desperately need broadband.

At a time when people can work remotely and run businesses from practically anywhere, the internet should be a boon to the rural economy. Not only could it keep Wisconsin's signature farming industry connected, it could help curb population losses in small towns, where many young people feel they must leave for opportunities elsewhere. Yet a significant portion of rural Wisconsin — if it has access to the internet at all — lacks access at broadband speeds, meaning a connection of at least 25 megabit per second downloads and 3 Mbps uploads.

NDIA Submits Comments to Treasury Recommending ARPA funds Support Gap Networks

During the pandemic, over 40 communities across the country built wireless networks to address the unaffordability of internet service. These wireless networks proved to be a useful tool for communities in their attempt to address internet affordability. As such, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance submitted comments to the US Department of the Treasury in response to the recently released Interim Final Rule for local and state governments suggesting gap networks be considered an eligible expense under the “Assistance to Households” section outlined in Sec. 602 and Sec.

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