The disruption caused by the pandemic and the resulting boost in innovation are opportunities to build a better future for everyone, to "do it right" this time. With the right policies, governments, the private sector and the international community have the power and the responsibility to shape a new technological era where no one is left behind. They should be guided by the following objectives:

The drumbeat of advocacy for universal internet access in the US became louder during the Covid-19 pandemic and was amplified by President Biden early in his presidency as he laid out a New Deal-like vision for the future of infrastructure and connectivity. Unfortunately, though, an agency responsible for carrying out the specifics of that vision has been paralyzed by a baffling situation that could inadvertently put Republican appointees of former President Donald Trump in the driver’s seat.

The Federal Communications Commission approved an additional 72 applications for funding commitments totaling $41,113,186 for Round 2 of its COVID-19 Telehealth Program. This is the FCC’s second funding announcement of approved applications following the nearly $42 million awarded on August 26 to healthcare providers in each state, territory, and the District of Columbia.

For Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, the moment is now to get the US on the right track toward ending the digital divide. That's what she's been trying to do with an influx of federal funding aimed at getting Americans connected to the internet during the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis, which has hit low-income Americans and people of color especially hard, has brought attention to the digital divide and has spurred Congress to act, Rosenworcel said.

ACA Connects alerted the Federal Communications Commission of potential misconduct among some Emergency Broadband Benefit Program providers. ACA Connects says some participating providers are performing a large and growing number of benefit transfers without the household’s apparent knowledge or intent.

The second application filing window for the Federal Communications Commission's $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund is open from September 28 to October 13, 2021. The FCC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund, established by the American Rescue Plan of 2021, will help provide relief to millions of students, school staff, and library patrons and help close the Homework Gap for students who currently lack necessary internet access or the devices they need to connect to classrooms.

Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the FCC has enrolled over six million low-income households into the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, the US’s largest broadband affordability program.  Since mid-May 2021 millions of families who previously could not get online or struggled to pay for this modern-day necessity are now connected.  The temporary subsidy program initiated by Congress provides discounts of $50 (and up to $75 on Tribal lands) to qualifying households on their monthly internet bill, and some Emergency Broadband Benefit provider

The Federal Communications Commission is committing $1,203,107,496.88 for 3,040 schools, 260 libraries, and 24 consortia that applied for support from the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund Program. This first wave of funding commitments will provide students, school staff and library patrons in all 50 states and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia access to the devices and broadband connectivity they need to support their off-campus education needs.

The largest cable and wireline phone providers in the US – representing about 96% of the market – have added about 15,400,000 subscribers over the past five years (compared to about 14,600,000 net adds over the prior five years). Top broadband providers added 8,000,000 subscribers over the past two years, including about 4,330,000 net adds over the past year, and about 3,670,000 net adds over the prior year. Net broadband additions in the second quarter of 2021, 890,000, were the most in any second quarter in the past decade, except for 2Q 2020.

As so many residential internet customers have needed to rely more heavily on their internet service provider to stay connected for work, school and entertainment, two-thirds (66%) of customer satisfaction is driven by the quality and speed of their internet connection and how the customer perceives the value of that connection, according to the JD Power 2021 US Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study. Verizon ranks highest in the East region with a score of 758 (on a 1,000-point scale), followed by Xfinity (725).