Affordability/Cost/Price

The state of Idaho has awarded nearly $119 million in funding to Ziply, Comcast and 14 others. Ziply won two awards totaling over $14.3 million. Comcast won a single award for over $9.8 million. Other awardees included competitive and incumbent local providers. In addition, some awards went to individual counties. Awardees will contribute matching funds equal to 30 percent of project costs on average. The funding will go toward last mile and middle mile projects. The funding for the program came through the federal Capital Projects Fund.

The Missouri Office of Broadband Development, housed in the Department of Economic Development, released the state's draft Digital Opportunity Plan for public comment. The plan serves as a comprehensive guide to the actions that Missouri intends to pursue in order to achieve digital equity in the state.

What once was a luxury is now a necessity for many in today's world, and a lot of East Texans are left out when it comes to having reliable internet access. It powers businesses, connects people around the world and creates avenues for education and health care. However, broadband internet is not equal. Proposition 8 on Texas' November 7 ballot aims at funding a better future for internet access. This proposition is the constitutional amendment creating the broadband infrastructure fund to expand high-speed broadband access and assist in the financing of connectivity projects.

In “Digital and Equity and Justice in Maryland: Challenges and Opportunities” recently published by Economic Action Maryland, I present findings from a qualitative study that sought to answer the following research question: What is the landscape of issues related to universal broadband access, digital equity, and related community standards in Baltimore City and across the state of Maryland? My hope was that the findings would be useful for residents, policymakers, and other stakeholders interested in advancing broadband access and d

The Federal Communications Commission committed nearly $5.2 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program, which provides digital tools and services to support students in communities across the country. The funding commitment supports applications from the third application window, benefitting approximately 14,000 students nationwide, including students in California, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. The funding commitment will support approximately 23 schools and school districts.

The Federal Communications Commission established a mechanism by which a participating provider in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) can apply to offer an enhanced monthly discount of up to $75 for broadband services to ACP-enrolled households in a high-cost area, upon the provider’s showing of particularized economic hardship. Now the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau provides additional information on the application process and announces that ACP providers may begin submitting applications on Wednesday, January 17, 2024 seeking approval to offer the high-cost area benefit in a gi

The Federal Communications Commission launched an inquiry to kick off the agency’s evaluation of the state of broadband across the country, as required by section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

The Federal Communications Commission plans to adopt both a disparate treatment (intent) and disparate impact (effects) analysis to determine whether there is any discrimination of internet access.

I would wager that most of the supposed Affordable Connectivity Program fraud is coming from cellular carriers. My suggestion is that we stop using ACP to subsidize cellular service. The underlying concept of ACP is to get better broadband to folks, and I don’t care how you try to justify it—cell phone data is not a substitute for home broadband. Many people claim that they only use their cellphone as a broadband connection, but if they are more than a casual broadband user, they are probably getting most of their broadband through WiFi connections on somebody else’s broadband connection.

The Oregon Broadband Office (OBO) released the draft State of Oregon Digital Equity Plan which outlines how Oregon will use federal funds to provide reliable, affordable, high-speed internet, computing devices, and digital skills training to people who need it most. OBO developed the draft Digital Equity Plan after a robust public engagement and planning process to capture the diverse voices and lived experiences of all people and to identify the needs and barriers to digital equity. The draft State of Oregon Digital Equity Plan contains seven key sections.