Devices

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a huge factor in the prepaid ecosystem. In the coming years, the two top sources of funding for this ecosystem will be the Total by Verizon store rollout and the ACP.

With the common aim of ensuring that all people and communities have the skills, technology, and capacity needed to reap the full benefits of our digital economy, each of the 50 states is currently drafting a digital equity plan through what one official called “the largest demonstration of participatory democracy that our country has ever seen." The states are tasked with developing long-term objectives for closing the digital divide by addressing the needs of eight "covered populations"—incl

Comcast is getting ready to activate Philadelphia (PA) as a trial market for cellular offload (i.e. using complementary network technologies for delivering data originally targeted for cellular networks).

Car buyers must now decide which connected services they want to add.

In early 2020, as the coronavirus spread, schools around the world abruptly halted in-person education. To many governments and parents, moving classes online seemed the obvious stopgap solution. In the United States, school districts scrambled to secure digital devices for students. Almost overnight, videoconferencing software like Zoom became the main platform teachers used to deliver real-time instruction to students at home.

Comcast has continued to shed broadband subscribers, despite domestic broadband revenue being a bright spot in its second quarter (Q2) earnings. CEO Brain Roberts noted average revenue per user (ARPU) for broadband grew “four and a half percent” in the first half of 2023. As to what’s driving Comcast’s broadband growth, Roberts pointed to an influx of broadband usage, which “almost doubled” in the last couple of years.

In 2019, more than 44.9 million immigrants lived in the United States. One-third (14.8 million) were low income, meaning that their family’s income was below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. These immigrants face challenges including language barriers and lack of access to information. In 2019, approximately 46 percent of immigrants ages five and older (approximately 20 million people) were Limited English Proficient (LEP). Immigrants accounted for 81 percent of the country’s 25.5 million LEP individuals.

What do carrots, digital equity, and helping the environment have in common? In 2019, the US generated 7 million tons of electronic waste, with millions of computers, phones, and other internet-enabled devices going to landfills. These staggering numbers are not only a serious environmental concern, but a missed opportunity. As advocates and policymakers work to connect the last 20% of unconnected Americans, a significant obstacle is a lack of affordable devices.

In its recently released Draft Digital Opportunity Plan, the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development (OBD) envisions a future where digital equity connects all Minnesota residents to opportunities, options, and each other. The three goals highlighted in the plan—connect people to people, connect people to information, and connect people to resources—are ultimately limited, nodding to the moments where connections happen rather than the real systemic work it takes to sustain connections. To do so, OBD says, it will take people working together across the state with this shared vision.

In 20218 more than 40 million people in the United States were living with a disability, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. According to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey, even as majorities of these Americans report having certain technologies, the digital divide between those who have a disability and those who do not remains: