The COVID-19 pandemic has vividly demonstrated the disadvantages of lacking home internet service. One in four (4) households in New York State do not have a foundational tool for internet connectivity – a wireline high-speed internet subscription for their home. These gaps are more pronounced for low-income New Yorkers, older adults, and communities of color. The following data shines a light on access to digital tools in New York State using 2019 American Community Survey data. Key datapoints are as follows:

Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced at the White House the availability of nearly $1 billion in US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) grants to expand broadband access and adoption on Tribal land. The leaders called for significant broadband investments in the American Jobs Plan to make affordable high-speed internet available to all Americans. 

Some 15% of home broadband users in the US say they have had trouble paying for their high-speed internet service during the coronavirus outbreak. That includes 34% of those with household incomes of less than $30,000 a year. A quarter of home broadband users with annual household incomes ranging from $30,000 to just under $50,000 say they have had trouble doing so in the pandemic, as have roughly one-in-ten (8%) with household incomes ranging from $50,000 to $74,999. There are also differences by Americans’ educational attainment.

Smartphone ownership (85%) and home broadband subscriptions (77%) have increased among American adults since 2019 – from 81% and 73% respectively. Though modest, both increases are statistically significant and come at a time when a majority of Americans say the internet has been important to them personally. And 91% of adults report having at least one of these technologies. A Pew Research Center survey also finds that some Americans have difficulties when trying to go online.

At a time when people can work remotely and run businesses from practically anywhere, the internet should be a boon to the rural economy. Not only could it keep Wisconsin's signature farming industry connected, it could help curb population losses in small towns, where many young people feel they must leave for opportunities elsewhere. Yet a significant portion of rural Wisconsin — if it has access to the internet at all — lacks access at broadband speeds, meaning a connection of at least 25 megabit per second downloads and 3 Mbps uploads.

During the pandemic, over 40 communities across the country built wireless networks to address the unaffordability of internet service. These wireless networks proved to be a useful tool for communities in their attempt to address internet affordability. As such, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance submitted comments to the US Department of the Treasury in response to the recently released Interim Final Rule for local and state governments suggesting gap networks be considered an eligible expense under the “Assistance to Households” section outlined in Sec. 602 and Sec.

In May, the government began offering Americans struggling during the pandemic a $50 discount off of their broadband bill. But some US broadband providers are already exploiting the program to drive consumers to even more expensive broadband plans. Verizon, for example, was forcing customers to sign up for more expensive plans if they wanted the benefit. Charter, which sells broadband under the Spectrum brand, has been forcing eligible customers to opt in to full-price plans at sign up.

Veterans of the nation’s decade-long efforts to extend the nation’s broadband footprint worry that President Joe Biden's new plan carries the same bias of its predecessors: Billions will be spent to extend the internet infrastructure to the farthest reaches of rural America, where few people live, and little will be devoted to connecting millions of urban families who live in areas with high-speed service that they cannot afford. About 81 percent of rural households are plugged into broadband, compared with about 86 percent in urban areas, according to Census Bureau data.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act offer billions of broadband-related dollars to reduce consumer prices, build out network infrastructure, and fund digital skills programming. How should state and local leaders balance it all? We recommend a two-phase strategy.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau addressed the petitions of Cox Communications and the National Lifeline Association (NaLA)  seeking an expedited grant of a limited waiver of the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB Program) reimbursement rules as they apply to the connected device discount.