Ari Bertenthal

The Trump administration unveiled a new budget plan that called for halting new broadband funding through the United States Department of Agriculture. Congress established the USDA’s ReConnect Program to expand rural broadband access in 2018.

Local officials in West Virginia are sending a message about the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program: They want money to deploy fiber and do not want to settle for satellite Internet service like Elon Musk’s Starlink. In an April 18 letter to Governor Patrick Morrisey (R-WV) all three members of the Grant County Commission said fiber better aligned with the county’s unique geography, socioeconomic needs, and long-term development goals. “It is evident that fiber-to-the-home provides a more sustainable, equitable and high-performance option for our community,” Commission

One of the biggest losers on Election Day was “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” the moniker for a movement that appeared to suffer a fatal blow with voters’ support for President-elect Donald Trump. Diversity programs date to the rise of affirmative action decades ago, and have at times enjoyed broad political support.

Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said Congress should fund the $8.1 billion Universal Service Fund through annual appropriations. “I do think that the time has come for Congress to shift this to a general appropriation,” said Pai, FCC chairman from 2017 to 2021. “[If USF were funded by appropriation] we wouldn’t have this situation now where we’re essentially getting more and more money from a declining base of contributors.”

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the federal agency tasked with running the Biden Administration’s $42.45 billion effort to close the digital divide, reported that more than 2.4 million previously unserved homes and businesses have been connected since President Biden entered office in January, 2021. However, the press release did not name the programs that led to the increase or provide details about the locations of the newly connected.