The number of unserved and underserved locations in Connecticut is estimated to be just under 8,000 (0.57% of all locations in the state). The northwestern corner, as well as rural areas in the east of the state, still have significant concentrations of unserved locations. In addition to access, there are significant challenges the state faces in achieving its universal broadband goals. Across the state, there is a need for greater competition and variation of services so that residents and businesses alike can choose the service that is most suited to their needs while pricing becomes more affordable. According to data collected by the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management (OPM), 86.7 percent of all eligible locations in the state have a broadband Internet subscription. Undersubscription is concentrated in 1) rural areas in the Northwest Corner and east of the state and 2) more primarily in large cities with higher-than-average poverty levels. These geographic trends point to the relationship between access to high-quality service and adoption and the importance of affordability in increasing broadband adoption. Among Connecticut households that do not subscribe to internet service of any kind, an estimated 18 percent report that a primary reason they do not pay for an internet service at home is an inability to afford service. Poverty is among the strongest correlations with low levels of Internet subscribership in Connecticut and around the country. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's (DEEP) Office of Telecommunications and Broadband works to ensure the universal availability, affordability, and accessibility of high quality, telecommunications services to all residents and businesses in the state. DEEP wrote the state's Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program which will provide $144 million to enhance broadband in the state.

A bid to break up Alphabet Inc.’s Google is one of the options being considered by the Justice Department after a landmark court ruling found that the company monopolized the online search market. The move would be Washington’s first push to dismantle a company for illegal monopolization since unsuccessful efforts to break up Microsoft Corp. two decades ago. Less severe options include forcing Google to share more data with competitors and measures to prevent it from gaining an unfair advantage in AI products. Regardless, the government will likely seek a ban on the type of exclusive contracts that were at the center of its case against Google. If the Justice Department pushes ahead with a breakup plan, the most likely units for divestment are the Android operating system and Google’s web browser Chrome. Officials are also looking at trying to force a possible sale of AdWords, the platform the company uses to sell text advertising.

Meta has been bombarded by academics, researchers, politicians and regulators about a tool called CrowdTangle, which most people probably haven’t heard of. It’s been used to investigate the spread of violence, political disinformation and false narratives on Facebook and Instagram. On August 14, less than three months before the U.S. election, Meta is shutting CrowdTangle down. More than 50,000 people have signed letters and petitions urging Meta to halt its plans, or at least wait six months, according to the Mozilla Foundation. Regulators, including the European Commission and a bipartisan group of U.S. senators and Congress members, say shuttering CrowdTangle now could be risky—given how useful it’s been to help researchers identify security threats and misinformation, especially around elections.

A group of archivists—a coalition from government, academia and nonprofits—has begun capturing the Biden administration’s digital footprint. The monthslong undertaking is called the End of Term Archive, and it has occurred every four years since the George W. Bush administration. Archivists first amass a sprawling list of public government URLs. They then catalog all of those websites (and the websites within those websites) and a snapshot of their content. In the end, it’s as much as 300 terabytes worth of material. The End of Term Archive is preparing for its initial “crawl” of government websites next month, and will then do another around the inauguration in January. A digital copy of those websites will be available almost immediately to the public via the Wayback Machine.