Axios

Colorado and federal lawmakers want to put big money into more efforts to expand high-speed internet access. In Colorado, about 90,000 rural residents and 65,000 students across the state do not have access or adequate access, according to a recent Colorado Broadband Office 

Here are the names you'll hear a lot as Biden builds out his tech policy apparatus at the Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission:

The COVID-19 crisis drove digital media consumption to new heights, while traditional media stagnated, according to data from eMarketer. Time spent with media overall increased significantly during the pandemic, thanks to lockdowns that people spent online. Time spent with digital increased 15% in 2020 from 2019 to 7 hours, 50 minutes daily. Connected TV saw a 33.8% increase in usage last year, to 1 hour, 17 minutes per day. Subscription streaming saw a 33.9% increased in usage to 1 hour, 12 minutes per day. Digital audio saw a 8.3% increase in usage to 1 hour, 29 minutes per day.

I believe deeply in the importance of connectivity and the role that counties and cooperatives play in that endeavor. I was asked to talk about a few things today: the importance of broadband in a time of COVID; the important role that cooperatives play in broadband deployment; and the different technologies that deliver broadband to our homes, offices, and schools. Let’s start with the importance of broadband.

Now that the pandemic has made it clear just how essential it is to be connected to high-speed internet, lawmakers are finally putting billions of dollars into funding government programs to expand access to it. Urgency has also increased at the state level: 34 states enacted legislation or resolutions related to broadband development in 2020, per the