Gov Phil Scott (R-VT) proposed a $51.5 million program, with money from the federal Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund, to deploy 100 cell towers to reach unserved wireless areas in Vermont. Administered by the Department of Public Service, the Critical Communications Infrastructure Program (CCIP) will fund the deployment of additional cell towers to expand mobile wireless voice and data coverage throughout Vermont. Federal Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund As with broadband service, the need for expanded cell coverage is critical for telehealth, public safety, education, and the economy.

The phase-out of the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB) and the transition to the new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) represents an opportunity to take stock of the EBB program’s impact, and adjust key parameters to enhance the impact of the ACP.

Amidst COVID-19-related stay-at-home orders, the economy moved largely online and broadband internet became more important than ever. This paper explores the relationship between broadband and employment rates during April and May 2020 in rural US counties. We use two broadband dimensions: infrastructure availability rates and household adoption rates. We use a two-stage least squares approach to address endogeneity and control for socioeconomic, demographic, and pandemic-related factors.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau approved the sixth and final group of funding commitments under Round 2 of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Telehealth Program and committed $47.89 million in funding to 100 health care providers across the nation. The funding commitments will provide critical support to health care providers on the front lines in the fight against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.  With this action, 447 awardees have received funding commitments totaling $256,378,567 and all funding in the program has been committed.

COVID-19 has had a profound impact on the central role of digital media in our everyday lives. We now are in a historic transition, from a nation organized for a pandemic response to a recovery that surely will create a “new normal.” So it’s timely and important to look back at how digital media has been shaped during this period, and more importantly, to assess what lies ahead, based on current data and trends. This post-pandemic new normal, however defined, will not be binary.

From rural towns to inner cities, high-speed internet is out of reach for thousands of Louisianans, but with millions of dollars in grants available, a new state initiative aimed at closing the digital divide is gaining significant interest from private companies. With $90 million to distribute, Louisiana’s Office of Broadband Development & Connectivity received $440 million in funding requests from 23 companies in its first round of applications. The proposals cover 58 parishes and aim to provide high-speed internet to 215,000 households and 14,000 businesses.

Federal funds and municipal bond money have flowed to school districts during the past two years to help connect students to the internet during the global pandemic. Some of this funding has helped create private LTE networks using CBRS spectrum under General Authorized Access. One of these networks serves Texas’ Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD). The network was designed to favor capital investment rather than ongoing operating expenses, since a windfall of funding was available from a bond and from the government’s Emergency Connectivity Fund.

The New York City Department of Correction (DOC) has increased its use of tablets for individuals in custody since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to keep individuals connected to important resources, and plans are in place to continue to expand on the program even more. Tablets have proven to be a useful tool in improving behavior, offering classes and even as a substitute for the in-person visits curtailed by the pandemic. What initially started as a pilot program has since been expanded to allow the majority of inmates in DOC facilities to have access to a tablet.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that it is committing $361,037,156.16 in its latest wave of Emergency Connectivity Fund program support. This round of commitments will support 802 schools, 49 libraries and 8 consortia, which are approved to receive nearly 654,000 connected devices and over 313,000 broadband connections. This seventh funding wave brings total commitments to nearly $4.2 billion since the program was launched on June 29, 2021.

On December 23, 2021, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) highlighted the accomplishments of its new Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth over the past year and begins what will be annual tracking of investments in federal broadband support programs and Universal Service Fund programs. In the ACCESS BROADBAND 2021 Report NTIA also makes recommendations to improve efforts to track broadband spending and outcomes. The law also requires the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth to submit a report to Congress each year that i