The Kansas City Fed launched a project in early 2018 to outline issues of the digital divide and identify innovative approaches that communities were taking to narrow it. This report provides a summary of what we learned and opportunities for narrowing the divide. It is not intended to be a technical report. It is instead written for non-experts, to provide them with a holistic understanding of the digital divide and its relevance to a variety of community and economic development fields. The people who participated in this project shared their experiences of helping to make the internet available to those left behind. The characteristics of the field—the speed of change, the newness, the populations they assist—helped shape several common themes. The themes reflect the lessons they have learned about what it takes to close the digital divide.

1. Awareness: Many lack an understanding of the digital divide.
2. Change: The digital divide will never go away. Ever-changing technology means the digital divide is a moving target.
3. Rural broadband: New business models and/or public funding are critical to serving unprofitable areas.
4. Broadband adoption: Work with, not for, the community.
5. Digital skills: Teaching digital skills is complex, labor-intensive and requires an element of trust.
6. Equipment: Time and adequate equipment are needed to increase adoption.
7. Evaluation and collaboration: Stakeholders are hungry to learn from others.

The Pew Charitable Trusts’ state broadband policy explorer lets you learn how states are expanding access to broadband through laws. Categories in the tool include: broadband programs, competition and regulation, definitions, funding and financing, and infrastructure access. As you choose categories, a 50-state map illustrates which states have adopted such laws, which includes state statutes related to broadband as of Jan. 1, 2019. Each entry provides a summary of relevant policy as well as links to find the full text. "We wanted to make it accessible to everyone from a legislative staffer to your Aunt Betty who's running a community broadband effort on an island in Maine," says Kathryn de Wit, a manager at the Broadband Research Initiative at Pew Charitable Trusts.  "We realized as we were doing the research to get an idea of what policy looks like across the country that there really wasn't any other kind of tool that gets everything about broadband policy in one place," de Wit says. Pew researchers also plan to explore which state-level policies have been most effective at spurring broadband deployment. 

Fort Collins Connexion -- a public broadband service -- is on track to have its first broadband customer online by Sept. Who the customer will be, how much service will cost, or which parts of Fort Collins (CO) will get access first remained unanswered. But a Connexion update at a city council work session offered a few nuggets about what to expect: Connexion will officially launch, unveil a new website, and post pricing information in Aug. Broadband Director Colman Keane said the service will start out “very slowly” and ramp up through the fall, eventually reaching a rate of several hundred new customers a month. Keane said he considers broadband a platform that allows the city to try new things and offer better services for residents. The goal of “ubiquitous coverage” means residents will get the same quality of coverage regardless of where they live, he said. That’s a key part of the global smart cities initiative that focuses on using technology to improve lives and treat all citizens equally.

The Department of Justice will require Nexstar Media Group and Tribune Media Company to divest broadcast television stations in thirteen markets as a condition of resolving a challenge to the proposed $6.4 billion merger between Nexstar and Tribune. The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, along with the offices of three state Attorneys General, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the proposed merger. At the same time, the Division filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the suit by remedying the competitive harms alleged in the complaint, through the divestitures and related conditions.  The participating state Attorneys General offices represent Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. 

As a result of the merger, the combined company would likely charge cable and satellite companies higher retransmission fees to carry the combined company’s broadcast stations, resulting in higher monthly cable and satellite bills for millions of Americans. The merger would also enable the company to charge local businesses and other advertisers higher prices for spot advertising in the divestiture markets. Businesses that rely on broadcast advertising benefit from price competition among broadcast station owners. Nexstar and Tribune compete with one another for the business of local advertisers, and the proposed merger would eliminate that competition, harming local businesses.

The Antitrust Division has determined that the divestitures would resolve aforementioned antitrust concerns related to the licensing of retransmission consent and the sale of broadcast television spot advertising that would otherwise result from the merger. The divestitures required under the settlement announced today would, if approved by the court, require Nexstar to sell one or more stations currently owned by either Nexstar or Tribune in each of the thirteen markets. The settlement requires that the divestitures be accomplished in such a way as to satisfy the United States that the divested stations, in consultation with the Attorneys General of Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and associated assets will be used by the buyers as part of a viable and competitive commercial television broadcasting business.

Cisco Systems agreed to pay $8.6 million to settle claims that it sold video surveillance technology that it knew had a significant security flaw to federal, state and local government agencies. Cisco will pay civil damages in connection with software that it sold to various government agencies, including Homeland Security, the Secret Service, the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Fifteen states joined the Justice Department in the claim against Cisco, one of the world’s largest sellers of software and equipment to businesses and governments. The case was filed in the Federal District Court for the Western District of New York under the False Claims Act, which addresses fraud and misconduct in federal government contracts. The government said the video surveillance software it bought from Cisco was “of no value” because it did not “meet its primary purpose: enhancing the security of the agencies that purchase it.” In many cases, the Cisco software actually reduced the protection provided by other security systems, the complaint said.