July 2023

Challenges to Achieving Digital Equity or “Why Covered Populations Are Covered”

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In 2021, a Pew Research Center survey found that seven percent of U.S. adults did not use the internet at all. Internet non-adoption is linked to a number of demographic variables, but it is strongly connected to age, educational attainment, and household income.

In community-driven efforts to address digital inequities, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. For this reason it is important to disaggregate data so solutions can be identified, evaluated, and expanded to address the needs of those who are the most disconnected.

A Checklist for Evaluating Digital Equity Visions

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration asks states to address two critical questions in their visions of digital equity:

TIA is helping states navigate BEAD cybersecurity requirements

As states draft their initial proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is striving to help broadband offices tackle the cybersecurity aspect of the BEAD guidelines. Essentially, states must verify the vendors and suppliers to whom they award contracts have “adequate” cybersecurity and supply chain risk management (C/SCRM) plans.

Reconsidering the E-Rate Program

E-Rate is the forgotten child of the universal service family. While commentators and Congress have spilled significant ink examining the government’s broadband build-out and affordability initiatives, E-Rate has been quietly subsidizing broadband service to schools and libraries for a quarter century. Promoting community connectivity and education is a worthwhile policy goal.

North Dakota Providers Break Ground on Government-Funded Fiber Broadband Builds

Five providers that offer service in eastern North Dakota broke ground simultaneously on fiber projects funded, in part, through state and federal broadband programs.

Tecore Pioneers First FCC Certified Cellular Interdiction System

Tecore Networks, a perennial innovator in cellular networking infrastructure and private network operations, reached a significant milestone in its efforts to combat the illegal use of contraband cellular devices in correctional facilities and other secured government environments.

Toxic lead telephone lines: Searching for solutions

Millions of Americans could be affected by thousands of miles of toxic telephone cables. These old cables, legacies from the pre-internet, dial-up telephone era, are sheathed in lead, an element found to be toxic in humans.

WTA Expresses Opposition to Supplementing RDOF Support Amounts

WTA—Advocates for Rural Broadband filed a letter in opposition to a proposal by the Coalition of RDOF Winners which seeks substantial post-auction supplemental additions to the support amounts, as well as significant changes to the distribution schedules and other terms and conditions, for which the Coalition’s members made winning low bids and agreed to accept during the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) reverse auction.

House Infrastructure Committee Approves E-BRIDGE Act

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved a number of measures, including H.R. 1752, the Eliminating Barriers to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility (E-BRIDGE) Act, legislation to remove hurdles for broadband projects under Economic Development Administration (EDA) grants.

Understanding Digital Equity Ecosystems

Digital Equity Ecosystems are the interactions between individuals, populations, communities, and their larger sociotechnical environments that all play a role in shaping the digital inclusion work in local communities to promote more equitable access to technology and social and racial justice.

—Rhinesmith and Kennedy

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