1. Monthly archive
  2. April 2020

April 2020

Broadband is More Important Than Ever

Broadband is more important than ever, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has been working to expand access and increase connectivity for all Americans. We recently provided a one-year update to the American Broadband Initiative (ABI), the Trump Administration’s government-wide approach to connectivity challenges. Five new states – Nebraska, New Mexico, Michigan, Missouri, and Virginia – have joined the initial eight states participating in our National Broadband Availability Map.

Getting Residents Online in a Pandemic Crisis

What are steps local leaders can take right now to help low-income and vulnerable families access broadband connections and devices to get online during the crisis? 

  • Help Your Residents Access Free and Low-Cost Broadband Plans
  • Help Residents Access Free Devices
  • Leverage Public Wi-Fi Options
  • Partner with the Private Sector
  • Connect with Your State Leadership

[Angelina Panettieri is the Legislative Manager for Information Technology and Communications at the National League of Cities]

Indian Health Service Expands Telehealth Services During COVID-19 Response

The Indian Health Service is announcing its expansion of telehealth across IHS federal facilities. On March 27, IHS issued additional guidance that allowed clinicians to use certain additional, non-public facing audio or video communications technologies to augment all clinical activities related to providing care to patients during the COVID-19 public health emergency. This applied to telehealth provided for any clinical reason, regardless of whether the telehealth service is related to the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions related to COVID-19.

How’s the Internet Doing? Depends Where You Look

As residents shelter in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the surge in demand that internet providers would expect to see gradually over the course of an entire year has instead hit in a matter of weeks. How are these crucial networks faring, and will they be able to keep handling this kind of a load? The answer is complicated and even more so the longer the pandemic persists. But so far — as anyone fortunate enough to be able to work remotely and stream Netflix can attest — things seem to be going OK.

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