In a letter to Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) urged the FCC to close the digital divide by making rural broadband a priority in 2021 that expands internet access to all communities in Oregon and nationwide. As Congress looks ahead to an infrastructure package that will help communities recover from the COVID-19 crisis, in line with President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, we have a unique opportunity to close this country’s digital divide and jumpstart future job and wage growth across the country,” Wyden wrote in his letter to Acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel. “I believe it is time for our country to state unequivocally that it is an American priority to make broadband in 2021 what electricity became eighty years ago: an essential service on which every household could count, in every nook and cranny of rural America. During the heart of the Great Depression, this country built out energy infrastructure to light up rural America and ensure that every community benefited from modern technology. Now, almost a century later, the internet is that modern technology necessary to drive economic growth, promote education and health care, and improve Americans’ daily lives in all communities across the country.

US Ignite awarded grants to seven communities for Project OVERCOME, a $2.7 million effort designed to connect the unconnected through novel broadband technology solutions. The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) conceived of and is providing $2.25 million in funding for the project, with Schmidt Futures joining as a financial and strategic partner to extend Project OVERCOME’s geographic reach with an additional $450,000. Through Project OVERCOME, US Ignite will launch and oversee multiple broadband efforts that combine innovative technical and community engagement approaches to reach underserved populations. In the selection phase of the project, US Ignite conducted a rigorous panel review process drawing from experts across the municipal, research, and broadband industry sectors. In addition to assessing merit, reviewers evaluated proposals to ensure a diversity of people would be served by Project OVERCOME. Winning proposals reflect a range of rural and urban environments, demographic characteristics, geographic regions, housing types, local and industry collaborations, and technical approaches. The project management teams selected and listed below also represent a diverse and interdisciplinary group.

Ten years ago, the National Broadband Plan observed that as “more aspects of daily life move online and offline alternatives disappear, the range of choices available to people without broadband narrows. Digital exclusion compounds inequities for historically marginalized groups.” In light of these trends, that plan warned “the cost of digital exclusion is large and growing.” Unfortunately, only modest efforts to address those costs have been expended in the last decade. Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates a shift to “remote everything,” the costs of exclusion have grown even larger. The need for policymakers to act has become even more urgent, compelling us to ask, how can the tools of the information economy be employed to create a more equitable and inclusive society? The answer lies in accomplishing four big, but achievable, goals:

• Deploying networks everywhere.
• Getting everyone connected.
• Creating new economic opportunities to participate in the growth of the digital economy.
• Using the networks to improve how we deliver essential services, in particular in workforce development, health care and education.