The Trump administration, broadband internet, and closing the rural digital divide

In the 20th century, connecting your house to the electric grid was the best way to experience the rapidly evolving world. These days, the best way to engage with modern society is undoubtedly the internet. The name of the game is broadband internet. That means a connection fast enough to stream TV at home, connect computers in a school, or manage a small business. And while internet speeds in urban areas continue to get faster, about a quarter of people living in rural or tribal communities are still stuck using slow connections. As the internet becomes a must-have, and not a nice-to-have, these underserved areas risk getting left behind. Enter Congress, which created a program through the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law that aimed to close this digital gap. The goal was to connect all Americans with broadband internet so that we all can benefit from an increasingly digital economy. The federal government promised to give $42 billion to the states and U.S. territories to connect the most remote places in the country. Now, the Trump Administration wants to change the program in ways that could affect what kind of internet technology we use in rural communities for the next few decades. And one person who may benefit? Elon Musk.