The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections, which help the Department assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public’s reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment preceding submission of the collection to the Office of Management and Budget. The purpose of the  State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program (SDECG) is to promote the achievement of digital equity, support digital inclusion activities, and build capacity for efforts by States and U.S. territories and possessions relating to the adoption of broadband. NTIA will use the information collected from each applicant to the SDECG to effectively review the proposed applications and budgets. To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed information collection must be received on or before January 28, 2025.

While Minnesota will be receiving $652 million from the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program to help fund broadband access projects across the state, many internet service providers might not opt-in over frustrations with the program. “My members are telling me they’re not going to participate,” said Brent Christensen, president and CEO of Minnesota Telecom Alliance. “The way that BEAD is structured. I don’t know how anybody’s going to participate.” His group represents 70 companies that provide advanced telecommunications services, like wireless video and high-speed internet, to Minnesota’s rural and metropolitan regions. Members vary in size, with the largest, Century Link, serving metro customers and the smallest serving a little over 200 customers. Many of the companies have built out broadband in rural locations with the help of state funding, but the requirements of the federal program, which is administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), are much more “onerous,” Christensen said. The industry is frustrated with the federal body because of these requirements and the amount of time it’s taken to set up a program. Melissa Wolf, executive director of the Minnesota Cable Communications Association, said Minnesota already had programs that worked well with internet service providers and that if BEAD had more closely modeled those programs, projects would have already been completed. One of the requirements is that any property or equipment improved with the funds will have to be held in trust by the NTIA, meaning the providers record liens on what they install. Christensen said many MTA members can’t do that. 

The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO), home to the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI), is directed under state law to operate a broadband grant program consistent with the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund. The Realizing Opportunity with Broadband Infrastructure Networks (ROBIN) Program is designed to support the deployment of broadband infrastructure to locations currently without 100/20 megabits per second (Mbps) service. Areas without 100/20 Mbps are the focus of the program, but proposed networks delivering at least 100/100 Mbps will be prioritized. In early 2023, after receiving and reviewing an astounding 154 applications from 40 different applicants, MIHI published the first round of Initial Grant Recommendations. The comment/objection period occurred through early August,2023. MIHI received and reviewed more than 50,000 objections for validation. Every Initial Grant Recommendation received at least one objection. All Initial Grant Recommendations had their locations and grant amounts adjusted accordingly and the Initial Grant Recommendations totaled over $205 Million in grant funds with total project costs of more than $413 million. 

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced, in late October 2024, that Indiana would receive over $15 million through the Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program created by Congress through the Digital Equity Act. With this funding, the Indiana Broadband Office (IBO) is able to implement its Digital Opportunity Plan for the state, created in partnership with the Purdue University Center for Regional Development (PCRD) and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA). Broadly, the plan's objectives include initiatives to:

• Roll out large-scale programs facilitated with other state agencies focused on telehealth expansion, digital skills for incarcerated individuals, and accessibility of state websites and digital services;
• Upgrade state websites for accessibility and usability; and
• Introduce the Indiana Digital Skills program, a campaign to address connectivity barriers, device access, and digital literacy.

Here is a look at all the activities included in IBO's Digital Opportunity Plan, when state residents can expect the see the activities launched, and how the effectiveness of programs will be measured. 

A Chinese commercial vessel that has been surrounded by European warships in international waters for a week is central to an investigation of suspected sabotage that threatens to test the limits of maritime law—and heighten tensions between Beijing and European capitals. Investigators suspect that the crew of the Yi Peng 3 bulk carrier—225 meters long, 32 meters wide and loaded with Russian fertilizer—deliberately severed two critical data cables as its anchor was dragged along the Baltic seabed for over 100 miles. Their probe now centers on whether the captain of the Chinese-owned ship, which departed the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga on Nov. 15, was induced by Russian intelligence to carry out the sabotage. It would be the latest in a series of attacks on Europe’s critical infrastructure that law-enforcement and intelligence officials say have been orchestrated by Russia.

This annual publication looks at what people in the UK are doing online, how they are served by online content providers and platforms, and their attitudes to and experiences of using the internet. In May 2024, UK adults spent an average of 4 hours 20 minutes a day online, across smartphones, tablets and computers.  Almost half (48%) of the time UK adults spend online is on services owned by Alphabet or Meta. Reddit was the fastest-growing large social media platform in the UK, reaching more than half of UK online adults by June 2024. Eighteen to 24-year-old TikTok and Snapchat visitors spent on average about an hour per day on each service. Search engines are still widely used; 90% of UK online adults visited at least one of the top ten highest-reaching search engines in May 2024.