Universal Broadband

To assist those affected by the Hawai’i Wildfires, this temporary waiver of certain Lifeline program eligibility rules will ensure that consumers receiving federal disaster assistance can easily apply for and enroll in the Lifeline program. Because of the exigent circumstances arising from the Hawai’i Wildfires, the FCC finds that there is good cause for further action to ensure that consumers in the affected areas receive critical assistance for their communications needs.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded seven grants totaling $3,449,227.56 to seven Tribal entities as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP).  With funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, these new grants bring the total of the program to more than $1.79 billion awarded to 198 Tribal entities. Record investments in high-speed Internet deployment are a key part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.

In July, the West Virginia Department of Economic Development (WVDED) released the state's Draft Digital Equity Plan for public comment, asking stakeholders to weigh in on WVDED's strategy for bridging the digital divide. West Virginia’s Digital Equity Plan is a five-year, action-oriented roadmap for the WVDED—in collaboration with statewide partners—to ensure that every West Virginian can participate in today's increasingly digitally connected society.

On August 14, 2023, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel responded to lawmakers' concerns about the E-Rate Program and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking circulated amongst the FCC.

The Oklahoma Broadband Office (OBO) has launched an interactive online map detailing availability of high-speed internet service throughout the state. The Oklahoma Broadband Map offers Oklahomans a way to track improvements in broadband infrastructure as federal grant funds are deployed statewide over the coming years. Developed using federal grant funds appropriated by the Legislature, the state map offers information and functions not available in either of two maps maintained by the Federal Communications Commission – one showing service availab

Congress and the Federal Communications Commission must act swiftly and purposefully to ensure that low-income households continue to have sustainably affordable access to communications services through a fully funded low-income program that is structured to effectively close the affordability component of the digital divide while preserving program integrity. National Lifeline Association (NaLA) offers the following recommendations and observations:

As of 2017, there were approximately 18.2 million veterans in the United States, constituting approximately 7.3 percent of the adult U.S. population. An analysis of 2016 American Community Survey data found that U.S. veterans lagged in internet access when compared with non-veterans. More recently, the lack of access to the internet became more visible when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) tried to employ telemedicine and other technology-enabled approaches to serving veterans.

Since the late 1990s Colorado has tried to expand access to high-speed broadband. It’s been done in starts and stops, and sometimes not at all. Now Colorado is getting a huge amount of federal money, more than $826 million in Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding that was part of the 2021 infrastructure law to help expand broadband internet across the state and the country.

Governor Kristi Noem (R-SD) and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) announced the final round of funding that will award up to $27 million to connect rural South Dakota to high-speed broadband. The Connect SD broadband program has connected tens of thousands of households and businesses to high-speed broadband since Governor Noem took office in 2019. Over $269.5 million has been invested into broadband expansion in South Dakota. This investment will be crucial for South Dakota’s workforce development and future economic efforts.

Two key Republican lawmakers are opposing a Federal Communications Commission proposal that would expand the E-rate program to allow it to pay for Wi-Fi on school buses and mobile hotspots that schools can loan out to students.