On September 24, Black Churches 4 Digital Equity is hosting its National Affordable Connectivity Program Sign-Up Day in 34 cities across the United States. The coalition aims to increase participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program, the Federal Communications Commission's broadband subsidy program, by community members of African American, faith-based institutions. Through this event, Black Churches 4 Digital Equity aims to raise awareness of faith-based institutions' efforts to help close the digital divide. Black Churches 4 Digital Equity was launched in 2021 by the Multicultural Media and Telecom Internet Council (MMTC), a national, non-partisan, diversity nonprofit working to promote and preserve equal opportunity, civil rights, and social justice in the mass media, telecommunications, and broadband industries. Currently, Black Churches 4 Digital Equity includes 25 Black churches and Black church nonprofit organizations across nine states and the District of Columbia. “We see it as a larger work, to educate church leaders about how the digital divide is shaping so many issues within our community and how they can be policy advocates and champions locally and nationally in these discussions,” says Dr. Fallon Wilson, Vice President of Policy at MMTC.

In a 2021 report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that some small businesses lack access to broadband, but may benefit from federal programs that fund deployment in rural areas. Small businesses can likely reap the benefits of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) and the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service's (RUS) funding to expand broadband deployment. Yet, despite these benefits, much of the literature GAO reviewed suggests that FCC's current broadband minimum benchmark speeds—25 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloading and 3 Mbps for uploading—are likely too slow to meet many small business speed needs. The FCC and RUS have helped increase broadband speeds in rural areas. For example, USDA’s ReConnect is mostly funding projects that propose to build fiber, which is generally associated with the fastest speeds available. However, in the GAO's July 2021 report, they found that FCC has not assessed the speed needs of small businesses to inform future benchmark analyses; which causes a lack of assurance that its benchmark is sufficient for supporting broadband access that meets the needs of small businesses. Thus, the GAO has recommended that the FCC solicit input from stakeholders and conduct an analysis of small businesses' broadband speed needs and incorporate the results of this analysis into its determination of the benchmark for broadband.

To ensure all learners have equitable access to reliable, high-speed broadband and technology tools for learning, we must consider the three components of access—availability, affordability, and adoption. The purpose of this guidance resource is to support leaders in developing effective digital equity plans in these ways:  Exploring the three components of access—availability, affordability, and adoption; Highlighting existing barriers to achieving digital equity; Providing promising strategies to overcome these barriers; Identifying key action steps for leaders. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology (OET) recommends the following to ensure digital equity:

• Develop and earn public trust through partnerships.
• Learn from those impacted by inequitable access and provide opportunities for feedback.
• Co-develop clear goals and strategies with communities to craft a comprehensive digital equity plan.
• Raise public awareness and provide ongoing support for low- or no-cost broadband programs.
• Provide digital literacy training and professional learning opportunities.