Comcast's 4th-quarter profits rose, boosted by continued growth at its broadband business. The company added 538,000 new subscribers during the quarter. While 2020 was a banner year for Comcast's broadband results, executives on the earnings call noted that it was somewhat of anomaly due to the pandemic.

Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that she will convene a virtual roundtable discussion on Feb 12, 2021 to gather public input on how to structure the new Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. The roundtable will allow interested parties an opportunity to share ideas on the important public policy and program administration decisions that will shape the FCC’s approach to establishing the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. The FCC is currently gathering comments on the program in response to a request for comment issued Jan 4, 2021.

This is the third in our series of reports on the digital divide with Boston Consulting Group, and presents a clear roadmap for closing it once and for all. The report offers new and more granular detail on the root causes of the digital divide, cites work by many other groups in this field, and shows that previous COVID relief efforts have still left millions of kids caught in the gap and have funded mainly short-short-term solutions that are set to expire.

The US is racing to vaccinate millions of people for Covid-19, but online appointment registration systems are slowing down or preventing access to vaccinations for some of the people most vulnerable to the virus: older Americans. Nearly 30 percent of people in the US over the age of 65 do not use the internet, and more than 40 percent did not have broadband access at home. For older adults, broadband internet access isn’t the only hurdle, explains Becky Preve, who directs New York’s Association on Aging.

While digital inclusion can be framed as a social justice and equity issue, it can—and should—also be framed as a community and economic development issue. A digitally inclusive community or region ensures that all residents, organizations, and businesses can participate fully in an increasingly digitized community, society, and economy. This report will review a series of 2019 metrics to get a better idea of the state of digital inclusion in Indiana.

On Jan 25, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance submitted comments in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s public notice on the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB). Along with thirty-six signatories, they wrote their comments focusing on:

My top priority for the coming weeks is getting emergency broadband access to as many Americans as possible. If we’re successful, the Emergency Broadband Benefit will reach more disconnected low-income people and households of color than any previous Federal Communications Commission effort to close the digital divide. But Congress has—quite reasonably under the circumstances—given us just 60 days to set up the program.

A coalition of education advocates petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to close the remote learning gap for the estimated 15 to 16 million students who lack home internet access. If granted, the petition would allow schools and libraries to connect these disconnected learners using funding from the E-rate program.

Cable operators smashed records in 2020, adding more than 4 million customers in the first nine months of that year, fueled in part by the pandemic. But as hopes rise that COVID-19 will loosen its grip on the country, sending more people back to offices and schools and potentially softening broadband gains, many providers are looking toward the fringes of their footprints and extending their networks deeper into less-populated areas for growth. Extending the footprint, or making “edge-outs,” is nothing new for the industry.

How the Federal Communications Commission manages the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program will not only greatly affect the EBB Program’s effectiveness at helping those in need get connected, it will help inform how to best implement potential future broadband subsidies to address broadband affordability, which Congress continues to contemplate.