Digital Divide

When the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN) launched in late 2017 to develop north-central Indiana into a global epicenter for digital agriculture and the Internet of Things (IoT), it turned to Dr. Johnny Park for leadership. Since 2018, Park has served as CEO of WHIN and its pacesetting efforts in a 10-county area of the Hoosier state. Park joined WHIN from Spensa, a successful IoT agtech startup he founded.

Technologist Jason Hardebeck is no longer serving as the City of Baltimore’s director of broadband and digital equity. And Hardebeck’s former department, the Mayor’s Office of Broadband and Digital Equity (BDE), will no longer be housed within the Mayor’s Office. BDE is now located within the Baltimore City Office of Information and Technology (BCIT). Kenya Asli, BCIT’s director of strategic initiatives, will be the interim director of broadband and digital equity until a permanent hire for the position is found.

The Hollins Market neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland, is a desirable place to live and work. It takes its name from Hollins Market, the oldest public market building still in use in Baltimore, which is in the heart of the neighborhood. Hollins Market is also the location of Hollins House, a high-rise apartment building that houses seniors and people with disabilities. Most Hollins House residents qualify for Section 8 public housing vouchers, which help people with low incomes rent homes on the private market. A large number of residents are refugees or military veterans.

In recent years, many governments have launched programs to help close the connectivity gap and bring digital technologies to the previously unconnected. But even with such significant strides forward, much of the world remains unconnected, especially in remote areas. Almost 37 percent of the world’s population – 2.9 billion people – are still completely offline. The focus, however, can’t be only on addressing the lack of physical infrastructure to connect these regions, although that remains a priority.

Tim Hebb lives in one of more than 1.6 million households in Los Angeles that qualify for a new federal subsidy program for high speed internet service. And according to the Biden administration, he ought to be able to use that $30-a-month subsidy to get free access — 20 of the largest U.S. broadband providers had agreed to provide connections with up to 100 megabits-per-second download speeds for no more than the subsidy amount.

New Hampshire is diverting millions of dollars in federal pandemic relief funds to expand broadband internet coverage to rural and underserved communities. A proposal approved by the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee on July 22 authorizes the state to spend $51.3 million to create the Broadband Connect Program. This initiative will provide taxpayer-funded incentives to internet service providers to expand infrastructure in communities that lack access to high-speed broadband service. The plan will require internet providers to bid on the contract, and Gov.

Broadband is critical to modern life. Despite federal efforts, broadband access on Tribal lands has traditionally lagged behind the rest of the country. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review federal efforts for improving broadband on Tribal lands.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed $4,353,773.87 in fines against 73 applicants in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction (Auction 904) for apparently violating FCC requirements by defaulting on their bids between July 26, 2021 and March 10, 2022. The FCC provided clear guidance in its rules and notices on the monetary forfeitures associated with defaults in Auction 904. The bid defaults prevented 1,702 census block groups with 129,909 estimated locations in 36 states from seeing timely new investments in broadband infrastructure.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it has awarded the first five grants as part of the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program (CMC). Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves announced the grants at an event in New York with Mercy College, one of the first grant recipients.

While we're still a long way from seeing any of the much-hyped futuristic applications that 5G was supposed to bring, like autonomous vehicles or augmented reality, even the promised higher download speeds and super responsive networks have been inconsistent or simply unavailable to most people, especially those who live outside big cities or dense suburban communities. But there's a potential answer to the 5G coverage issue: more fiber. There's reason to be hopeful on the fiber front.