House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging him to give tribes more time to apply for broadband licenses in the 2.5 GHz Band. “We are concerned that the FCC’s failure to provide adequate time for tribes to take full advantage of the 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window means fewer tribes will be connected to lifesaving internet service,” Charimen Pallone and Doyle wrote.

A new initiative called Connected Beyond the Classroom will leverage city-owned fiber infrastructure and $27 million in CARES Act funds to connect students across San Antonio’s 50 most-vulnerable neighborhoods in a bid to close the digital divide and ensure teachers, students, and their parents can continue to learn this fall and beyond. While state law limits the communications services that municipal

Nearly half of Mainers who responded to a recent survey said their internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic has been less than adequate. Results of the statewide survey by Mission Broadband, a Bangor-based firm, reveal disparities in broadband access and affordability in different areas, a divide that has been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Roughly 47 percent of the more than 2,600 respondents indicated that their internet service has not met their needs since the start of the pandemic.

Telemedicine has proved effective during the pandemic, keeping people with chronic health conditions away from crowds and allowing more one-on-one time between patients and caregivers, according to health professionals. But West Virginia has a connectivity problem. Without sufficient internet access, drastic health disparities will widen between the state’s most impoverished and vulnerable communities and wealthier places, said Dr. Rahul Gupta, West Virginia’s chief health officer from 2015 to 2018. It’s not just telehealth that requires sufficient broadband.

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced that every eligible local educational agency in California has applied for and is receiving a portion of the $5.3 billion in learning loss mitigation funds secured through the state budget he signed in June. The Governor also signed an executive order directing state agencies across government to bridge the digital divide, building on the state’s efforts to provide computing devices and hotspots to students across the state. The order directs agencies to pursue a goal of 100 Mbps download speed.

In the COVID-19 era, life has moved to the internet, but not everyone has it, thanks to America’s notoriously unequal internet access. As many districts start virtually this fall, some teachers say they’re fighting to ensure that all of their students can log into class each day. Their struggles are just one example of the consequences of America’s failure to get all of its citizens online before this uniquely internet-dependent time. How did such an advanced country leave so many people technologically behind?

Much of the focus in policy circles has been on how to expand broadband access to those Americans without it. This is a worthy goal, but we should not lose sight of the magnitude of the other part of the digital divide: the adoption gap. FCC data shows about 35% or approximately 114 million Americans do not subscribe to broadband service at their homes. Cost is often cited as the leading factor for why Americans do not subscribe to broadband even when it is offered. Clearly, we need a strategy to address this gap, too.

Expanding the ability to work remotely, learn remotely, and conduct health care appointments through telehealth will be key steps in permitting economic activity to expand in the second half of 2020, and beyond. Further, a report by the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society shows that connected students are more likely to check their grades, do research, look up class information, and collaborate with peers than unconnected students. But local responses to the pandemic have raised the stakes on differential access to the internet.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai may have thought he was doing wireless carriers a favor when he slashed by nearly two-thirds a potentially costly requirement that they increase data for low-income subscribers starting in December. Instead, budget carriers are fighting his plan, leaving an uncertain future for Lifeline, the Federal Communications Commission’s program to help low-income Americans pay their phone and broadband bills. Pai’s draft order would force carriers like TracFone Wireless to provide 1.5 GB more data than currently required under Lifeline.

COVID-19 has exacerbated the digital “haves” and “have nots” through remote work, learning, and telehealth, yet our government’s main agency to support greater access and adoption is inadequately funded and functioned to meet this moment. AT&T recently published a blogpost lamenting the rise in contributions to the Universal Service Fund (USF) and arguing for funding reform.