Level of Government

Older Adults Technology Services from AARP released new research, finding that 19 million older adults (32 percent) have no wireline high-speed home service. Rural seniors are less connected than their counterparts in metro or suburban areas. Older seniors—those aged 75 and above—are less likely to have broadband service than people between the ages of 65 and 74. OATS retained Benton Senior Fellow John B. Horrigan, Ph.D., to analyze American Community Survey data for trends. His findings revealed substantial gaps in access to digital tools when comparing older adults to other age groups.

A new analysis of the broadband and cable market for Q3 shows continued pain for cable providers as subscriber losses grow, and as broadband industry net adds stay below pre-pandemic levels. The causes of the continued slowdown range from the loss of the Affordable Connectivity Program to a rise in mobile-only households and slow move rates.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr says Internet service providers (ISPs) shouldn't have to list every fee they charge. Responding to a request from cable and telecommunications lobby groups, he is proposing to eliminate a rule that requires ISPs to itemize various fees in broadband price labels that must be made available to consumers. The rule took effect in April 2024 after the FCC rejected ISPs' complaints that listing every fee they created would be too difficult.

“We all benefit when we are all connected—when workers connect with employers, patients connect with doctors, students connect with teachers, and small businesses connect with customers. That’s what Congress designed the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program to deliver—connectivity and opportunity for all," said Executive Director Dr. Revati Prasad. “NDIA’s action today is an unfortunately necessary step to restoring Congress’s intention.

The Healey-Driscoll administration and Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s (MassTech) Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) launched the Connected & Online Program, a $23 million initiative to close the digital device gap across Massachusetts.

While figuring out the math in its Starlink Capacity Analysis report, the X-Labs team found that a large density of users in a given area would "saturate the network" so much, that Starlink would be unable to deliver a minimal upload speed threshold that meets the Federal Communications Commission's threshold for "broadband" service.

Policy changes, technology limitations and problems in mapping data will all, in some way, limit the nation’s ability to bring broadband to rural America, industry watchers said. The states that have invested in standing up broadband offices with highly qualified technical expertise and the administrative heft to develop strong public policy will likely be more successful at closing the digital divide, consultants said.

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), represented by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the Trump Administration’s repeal of the Digital Equity Act Competitive Grant Program.

National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) and Public Knowledge (PK) submitted comments to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) about the questions for the 2025 Internet Use Survey:

The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) recently filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission in which the lobbyist implored the FCC to avoid auctioning spectrum from the CBRS band, citing the spectrum's importance to the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, among other concerns. WISPA's letter comes in response to the FCC's mandate, via President Donald