1. Monthly archive
  2. March 2020

March 2020

Advocates are desperately trying to get more people phone and internet service

Many advocates are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to significantly expand its Lifeline program. More than 250 organizations called on the FCC to provide low-income households with unlimited talk and text plans. The groups have also asked the agency to create an emergency broadband benefit that would provide eligible households with $50 per month to cover the cost of high-speed internet connections, where they are available. Eric Null, US Policy Manager at Access Now, argues that the FCC should ensure the Lifeline program lives up to its name during this time.

This map shows how millions of Americans are isolated with no internet during coronavirus pandemic

While much of the US hunkers down to work and shop online, large swaths of the country are trying to cope without an internet connection, leaving millions of households cut off from vital services and information during the pandemic. Here’s what the digital divide looks like across the U.S. In counties with the deepest shade of orange, half of households don’t have access to the internet.

CNBC

 

Internet Speed Analysis: Top 200 Cities, March 15th – 21st

How are networks are holding up in the top 200 cities? We’ve compared the median download speeds internet users have been experiencing for the week of March 15th – March 21st to the range of speeds experienced in prior weeks of 2020. Key findings:

Congress Tells FCC to Fix Broadband Maps Now

On March 23, 2020, President Donald Trump signed into law the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act. The new law requires the Federal Communications Commission, before the end of the summer, to dramatically reform the nation's problematic broadband deployment maps.

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