Indiana Governor, Eric Holcomb (R-IN) and Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch (R-IN) are leading the largest broadband investment in the state's history. Ball State University researchers found that thousands of homes across the state--urban and rural, low-income, and non-English speaking--experience the brunt of lacking access to broadband internet access. To combat this, Lt. Gov Suzanne Crouch created the Office of Broadband Opportunities in 2018 to identify needs and eliminate roadblocks to broadband deployment and digital literacy in the state. The office is meant to be a one-stop shop for all things broadband in Indiana. With this, and several other efforts to strategically combat Indiana's digital divide, the US Treasury approved Indiana's plans to use $187 million of Capital Projects Fund support for Next Level Connections. Indiana is using 92% of its total Capital Projects Fund allocation to bring high-speed internet to 50,349 locations—7.4% of the locations in the state still lack broadband. Each of the internet service providers funded by the program will participate in the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)—a $30 per month subsidy for low-income families.

The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded a $4.5 million Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Recovery Assistance grant to the Port of Lewiston, Lewiston, Idaho, to expand internet connectivity for commerce, public health and safety and learning in North Central Idaho. This project will support the construction of a 95-mile segment of fiberoptic cable running from Moscow to Grangeville. This EDA grant will be matched with $1.1 million in local funds and is expected to create 120 jobs, according to grantee estimates. 

At the annual National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) conference in Denver, Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) highlighted the progress Congress has made to expand access to high-speed, affordable broadband and close the digital divide. In 2021, Sen. Bennet introduced the bipartisan Broadband Reform and Investment to Drive Growth in the Economy (BRIDGE) Act with Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Angus King (I-MA), which was incorporated into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to make the single largest investment in broadband in history. Sen Bennet has helped lead the effort to bridge America’s digital divide in Congress. Sen. Bennet, alongside Senators King, Portman, and Joe Manchin (D-WV) urged the Biden Administration to establish a consistent, 21st-century definition of broadband to reflect the modern demands of families, farms, and businesses. Additionally, Sen. Bennet and others welcomed the Federal Communication Commission's proposal to redefine broadband connections as 100 Mbps or faster for download speeds. During the pandemic, Sen. Bennet also consistently called for more funding and flexibility for the FCC’s E-Rate program to connect low-income students online and helped secure more than $7 billion to close the digital divide for students nationwide in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Pershing County, Nevada is one of many rural communities throughout the US that will receive new, fiber optic, high-speed internet connections through the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) ReConnect Program. The grant awarded to Pershing County totals up to $27 million and will connect around 5,000 people to high-speed broadband internet. Among those 5,000, there are approximately 150 members of the Lovelock Paiute Tribe in the Lovelock Indian Colony, according to Stacey Montooth, executive director of the NV Indian Commission. The $27 million grant for the county will go to Uprise Fiber, a company that has built fiber networks in cities around Washington and Oregon for years and relocated to Reno in 2019. Uprise will start work early in 2023 and eventually provide fiber connections for 4,884 people, 130 businesses, 22 farms, and seven public schools. The company will offer two plans, including a 200MB plan for $30 a month, which around two-thirds of Lovelock residents will be able to access for free through the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

The St. Louis Public Library is adding 8,000 hotspots and 1,500 Chromebooks for city patrons who don't have internet or computer access at home. Residents can check out these devices for free for more than a year. Money for the library's total 17,500-device program comes from the federal Emergency Connectivity Fund. Through an earlier allocation by the fund, the library had already bought and loaned 4,000 Chromebooks and 4,000 hotspots. Because of the new funding, due dates for those devices have also been extended until Sept. 30, 2023. To check out a device, an individual must: be a resident of St. Louis city; visit one of the 16 library locations; have a St. Louis Public Library card, or sign up for one.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced that there is sufficient funding available to fully meet the Universal Service Administrative Company’s (USAC) estimated demand for category one and two requests for E-Rate supported services for funding year 2022. USAC estimates the total demand for funding year 2022 will be $3.15 billion, which includes $1.64 billion for category one services and $1.51 billion for category two services. The FCC announced that the E-Rate program funding cap for funding year 2022 is $4.46 billion. Additionally, according to USAC projections, $500 million in unused funds from prior funding years is available for use in E-Rate funding year 2022. In light of the current funding cap of $4.46 billion and available carry forward funding of $500 million, the FCC directs USAC to fully fund eligible category one and category two requests, using the $500 million in E-Rate funds unused from prior years, and any additional funds needed under the current funding cap to fully meet the demand.

How Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft make their revenue today shapes the battles they will fight tomorrow. For years, the largest tech companies each had their own fiefdom where they garnered the lion's share of revenue and profits. While tech companies competed at the edges, the market was big enough that each had plenty of green fields to expand into. They might step on each other's toes, but they took pains — and sometimes struck deals — to steer clear of the others' core businesses. However, as they have each become enormous, their search for growth has begun leading them onto one another's turf. Amazon and Apple, for example, are getting more revenue than ever from advertising — the heart of Google's and Facebook's business. Bottom line: Competition among these companies is increasingly a global affair, as the search for growth draws them onto terrain outside the U.S. where they face big challenges based on culture, language and economics. Additionally, given geopolitical tensions between the US and China, these US-based companies can appeal to nationalist sentiments to thwart regulators ability to rein in their power. "Hurt us, they argue, and you'll hurt America."

To help coordinate broadband efforts at the state level, policymakers have turned to legislation and executive orders to create statewide broadband advisory boards, task forces, and other similar agencies. At its core, a broadband advisory board is made up of individuals from different sectors who advise state broadband programs, governors, or legislatures. However, not all advisory boards are the same. Some serve as a temporary entity that guides the outset of a broadband program for states, while others are long-serving advisory entities that are helping to create new state broadband offices. While the overarching goal of almost all of these boards is the same — to help the state government get high-speed Internet access for its residents — the approaches, makeup, and longevity of state broadband groups tend to vary. For example, Kansas and Alaska initially had temporary task forces that put together reports and offered recommendations about the states’ different programs. Based on that work, each state then used the findings to create more permanent solutions. Other states also have ongoing and formalized groups. In all, these entities serve the purpose of connecting Americans to the 21st century.