The Public Library Association (PLA) and Microsoft announced a new initiative to increase access to technology in rural communities during the COVID-19 crisis. Microsoft will provide funding to help public libraries in rural communities extend Wi-Fi access by installing public Wi-Fi access points on or near library grounds. According to a recent survey of public library responses to COVID-19, less than 40 percent of public libraries have located Wi-Fi access points outside their buildings, and only 8 percent reported trying to expand that service.

Since the March shutdown of schools across Illinois, teachers at one rural southwestern district have been stuffing 800 manila envelopes with learning packets and mailing them to students’ homes because many families in the area don’t have computers or high-speed internet. Trico District 176’s remote learning challenges were highlighted recently in a story that exposed a digital divide across Illinois as schools shifted to remote learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s tenure, the number of Lifeline recipients has decreased by 40 percent and the program’s budget has shrunk accordingly. Less than 20 percent of Americans who are eligible for Lifeline take advantage of it. While Chairman Pai cloaks his so-called Lifeline “reforms” as efforts to root out “waste, fraud, and abuse,” the majority of his actions have little to do with maintaining the integrity of the program and more to do with harming its recipients.

Lifeline is the only federal program with the sole mission of bringing affordable communications to low-income Americans, and it is a critical aspect of our social safety net during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, we know that the number of Americans enrolling in the Lifeline program has remained relatively flat during this crisis, especially in comparison to the surging SNAP applications. Unfortunately, many eligible subscribers who could benefit from the Lifeline program are unaware that it exists. Only 7 million subscribers are enrolled in Lifeline and approximately 38 million are eligible.

Sens Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Reps Marcia Fudge (D-OH) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA), along with 140 colleagues in both the House and Senate, urged Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to work directly with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that the millions of Americans who are now eligible for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) or Medicaid due to job loss or reduction in income are informed that they are also eligible for the FCC’s Lifeline program.

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition believes the “Emergency Educational Connections Act of 2020” (H.R. 6563), introduced by Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), is extremely important to help students engage in online learning from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation will provide $2 billion in emergency supplemental funding for the Federal Communications Commission’s E-rate program to fund broadband connections and devices for the millions of students that do not have broadband at home.

Sens Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) called on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to work with broadband service providers and Congress to increase access to mobile broadband hotspots across rural America. Specifically, the sens urged Chairman Pai to work with the companies that stepped up by taking the Keep Americans Connected Pledge to provide a comprehensive report on the current distribution of hotspots to understand where hotspots have been deployed, where they will be deployed, and where they could be deployed with help from the federal government to impro

Broadcasters are telling the Federal Communications Commission that the current pandemic provides even more argument for loosening broadcast ownership regulations.

The Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Education announced efforts to promote the use of $16 billion in funding from the recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act’s Education Stabilization Fund for remote learning. The agencies will work with governors, states, and local school districts as they leverage funding to best help students learning from home during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

In the wake of trillion-dollar stimulus packages, the signing of House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta's (R-OH) Broadband DATA Act and Secure 5G and Beyond Act of 2020 on March 23 received little fanfare. But the acts are likely to spur an invisible transformation for rural communities, Rep Latta said.  “The reality is, many Americans across the country and Ohioans in the district I represent who live in rural areas don’t have reliable internet connectivity.