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This report presents the main findings from the 2023 Statewide Survey on Broadband Adoption Survey.

The purpose of the $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program is to help low-income Americans connect to the Internet during the Covid-19 pandemic. As of October 2021, EBB has more than 6 million recipients (about 700 thousand in California) and Congress is discussing several proposals to transition the EBB into a permanent broadband subsidy program. This policy brief examines broadband affordability in California and explores awareness and adoption of the EBB program among low-income California households.

The California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) released its 2021 Statewide Broadband Adoption Survey, in partnership with the University of Southern California, in a summary report titled Internet Adoption and the "Digital Divide" in California. The CETF survey tracks the progress of broadband deployment and adoption throughout CA from 2008 to 2021 and finds more than 90% of the state’s households have high-speed Internet connectivity at home through either a computing device or a smartphone, but 9.6% still are not connected. Home broadband adoption is increasing, up 3 percentage points fro

As schools across the country transition to distance learning due to the COVID-19 crisis, a new Connected Communities and Inclusive Growth (CCIG) report documents the extent of the distance learning gap in Los Angeles County. The distance learning gap refers to the gap between students living in households with high-speed Internet and a desktop or laptop computer, and those without these essential resources for effective distance learning. Among the key findings are:

As consolidation in the US residential broadband market continues, there is concern that that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are “cherry-picking” areas for upgrades to fast broadband services.  This policy brief examines this question for Los Angeles (LA) County during the 2014-17 period. In particular, it probes for evidence that ISPs are neglecting investments in low-income areas and communities of color.