High-speed broadband internet access is a critically important issue for many aspects of daily life, yet populations in rural areas are often unserved or underserved with reliable internet connectivity. Expanding broadband internet coverage in rural areas may have significant economic potential, especially since it enables precision farming which in turn increases yields, particularly for row crops such as corn and soybeans. This paper introduces methods that utilize GIS spatial analysis and remote sensing to assist in efforts to expand rural broadband access using case study counties in Illinois. Specifically, the methods presented here: (1) quantify current cropland production as well as future potential production in currently unserved or underserved rural areas; and (2) automate mapping of vertical assets from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data that may be utilized as high points to expand broadband coverage. Collectively, these methodologies may be used for policy advocacy and to inform the decision-making process as future broadband expansion initiatives are considered in rural areas.

The Forest County Potawatomi Community of Wisconsin had been generating electricity to run its community center using solar panels for years—they just didn’t have an accurate way of tracking their energy usage. Thanks to an Internet for All grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), they now do. NTIA’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) awarded the Forest County Potawatomi Community $125,232 to provide reliable high-speed Internet service to the Tribe’s solar arrays. The broadband component is critical to the success of the project, ensuring that Hauber and Lange can accurately monitor and store data. The solar panels produce enough energy to charge the building’s energy usage during the day. Before NTIA funded the program, Lange would have to physically drive out to the solar panel site to make sure everything was functioning properly. Data from the solar panels were stored in USBs, which only held 30 days of info. And, with slow download speeds, data collection could take upwards of 2-3 days' worth of time to collect. Now that everything goes through their own secure network, the Tribe is no longer dependent on an outside manufacturer or data company to understand how the solar panels on the community center are working, and do not lose any of their data. 

(March 22, 2024)

Spectrum announced the launch of Spectrum Internet, Mobile, TV and Voice services to more than 1950 homes and small businesses in Barnwell County (SC). Spectrum’s newly constructed fiber-optic network buildout in Barnwell County is part of the company’s approximately $5 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF)-related investment in unserved rural communities, partly offset by $1.2 billion in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) RDOF auction. The company’s RDOF expansion will provide broadband access to 1.3 million customer locations across 24 states in the coming years. Spectrum has also won more than $700 million in state broadband expansion subsidies, which, combined with Spectrum investment, will connect another 300,000 homes and small businesses.

Governor Greg Gianforte celebrated the expansion of TDS Telecoms’ (TDS) network across Montana at its new facility in Butte. The $21 million investment in Butte represents one component of TDS’ larger $160 million investment in Montana. In addition to Butte, TDS is building fiber networks in Billings, Great Falls, Helena, and Missoula. Constructing more than 1,000 miles of fiber broadband across Montana, TDS employs more than 100 Montanans and is expected to hire dozens more. Expanding access to reliable broadband and recruiting job-creating businesses to Montana to create greater opportunities for Montanans are central elements of Governor Gianforte’s Montana Comeback Plan.

In 2023, more than 60 bills were introduced at the state and federal level requiring greater parental consent, age restrictions, or safety-by-design measures. Half as many bills have already been introduced in the first few months of 2024. Most of these laws target youth access to online adult content and sales that are age-gated in real life. Yet some states are going further to apply age verification requirements to social media, responding to growing concerns about children’s experiences online. Many social media platforms and other online operators already implement a wide range of age assurance practices to comply with existing laws and uphold their own terms and conditions. These methods aren’t perfect, but mandating age verification, which often necessitates sharing government-issued identification, can have serious unintended consequences for the constitutional rights, privacy, and security of all users—both youth and adults. This report aims to demystify and clarify key concepts related to online age verification by providing a digestible survey of (1) current terminology and practices; (2) recent state and federal efforts requiring online age verification; (3) legal, technical, and social implementation challenges; (4) social media age-based features; and (5) recommendations for minimizing potential harms of age verification moving forward.