Digital Divide

Gov Greg Abbott (R-TX) was recently in Laredo (TX) touting his efforts to get the roughly 7 million Texans without broadband access online, something he deemed an emergency item in the last legislative session. But Abbott’s Democratic challenger, Beto O'Rourke (D-TX), has been hammering him for vetoing a bill that would have shored up state funding used to build and maintain phone lines that carry broadband service in rural areas.

The Building a New Digital Economy (BAND-NC) initiative was announced in February 2020 to address the challenges of broadband adoption across North Carolina, and to spark long-term planning efforts to bridge the digital divide.

One of the biggest questions associated with the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grant program is if that is enough money to solve the national rural digital divide. The funding works out to be around $850 million per state, but will vary significantly by state.

The Federal Communications Commission estimates it will take between $397 billion and $478 billion to reach all underserved locations. It’s worth remembering there are only two numbers at play: the number of locations that don’t have access to 100/20 broadband service, and the average cost to bring fiber-to-the-home service to those locations. I estimated 23.1 million un- and underserved locations. The FCC study estimated 45.5 million, or 32% of all United States housing units. The second part of the equation is the cost to serve the average unserved or underserved location.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel recently responded to a letter from Sens Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) regarding the FCC's Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric mapping progress in Alaska. In their letter, the senators expressed concerns over CostQuest's methodology and the availability of foundational data in the state. The lawmakers requested that the FCC accept supplemental data, work with state stakeholders to procure more accurate data, and ameliorate "deficiencies" in the FCC production maps released in June 2022.

Colorado’s Broadband Deployment Board (BDB), which operates under the Colorado Broadband Office (CBO), has awarded more than $22.8 million to 15 broadband projects that will connect 4,267 additional households to high-speed internet.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announces that it is implementing additional measures to strengthen program integrity surrounding the enrollment of households in the Affordable Connectivity Program based on a Benefit Qualifying Person (BQP).

Syracuse, NY, is requesting proposals for the design, implementation, and maintenance of a municipal broadband network. The pilot program, which will be paid for through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, aims to help bridge the digital divide by providing affordable internet for low-income residents, while also supporting smart city applications.

The pandemic created a sense of urgency about bringing internet access to more people and empowering them to use technology as a necessity of modern life.