Digital Divide

Ensuring everyone has access to affordable, reliable internet is key to unlocking educational, economic, and civic potential. The Michelson 20MM Foundation is committed to closing the digital divide, especially for underserved and historically marginalized communities.

When the Supreme Court released its decision in June 2025 declaring that the Universal Service Fund is constitutional, telecommunications and broadband industry groups breathed a collective sigh of relief while also calling on Congress once again to pass reforms to strengthen and improve the USF, which supports several high-cost and low-income telecommunications programs to the tune of $8 billion/year.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency now requires disaster survivors to register for federal aid using an e-mail address—a change from previous policy that made an e-mail address optional. While the move is intended to modernize and streamline the process of applying for disaster aid, it risks blocking vulnerable populations from accessing critical federal assistance in the wake of disasters. How does the move put disaster victims at risk, and what can communities—and FEMA—do to ensure folks can still get the assistance they need? 

As the only ecosystem-based organization focused on ensuring that low-income Americans have sustainable, affordable access to essential communications services, NaLA has submitted comments to the recently re-launched bipartisan, bicameral Universal Service Fund (USF) Working Group. Because NaLA’s members have extensive experience offering affordable communications services to low-income households through their participation in the Lifeline program, NaLA has focused its comments almost exclusively on the USF’s Lifeline program. 

Since Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick’s arrival at the helm of the Commerce Department, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program has gotten a bit off track. In recent days, a fact sheet of sorts has been circulated, ostensibly authored by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), claiming to “debunk lies” by “swampy special interests” about BEAD.

We now know the next Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment fight, and it might be the biggest one yet. On September 5, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration issued a press release talking about the progress of the Benefit of the Bargain round for States to award BEAD funding. The press release announced that 36 of 56 States and Territories have made tentative BEAD awards and have submitted their final proposals to NTIA.

This week, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society released "Achieving Affordability: State Strategies for Getting Everyone Online," an examination of how states are working to make high-speed internet more affordable for their residents. With the release, Benton Research Director Dr. Caroline Stratton hosted a discussion on how broadband affordability, availability, and adoption relate to each other and present current and future opportunities to improve universal access.

There is an old vaudeville-era joke about diners advertising “blue plate specials” with eye-catching, low prices.

SETDA published its fourth annual State EdTech Trends Report, offering a look at the evolving priorities and challenges facing K-12 education technology leaders across the country. The report comes at a pivotal time. Pandemic-era relief funds have expired, budgets are tightening, and states are reshaping policy priorities while charting the future of digital learning. For the first time, AI surpassed cybersecurity as the top state edtech priority. Key findings of the report include:

When it comes to federal efforts to close the digital divide, Minnesota has been left behind. Program after program has promised transformational change—yet time and again, your communities are still waiting. But Minnesota has the power—and the track record—to build its own broadband future. Federal broadband programs have failed the state. They promised a feast and delivered crumbs. In the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, ISPs defaulted on 80% of  more than $400,000,000 in state RDOF funds and on 78% of the over 142,000 RDOF locations.