The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is greatly concerned with the preservation and advancement of the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program—a vital Universal Service Fund program that must continue to be improved to achieve its goals, broaden its reach, and expand access to those who can benefit the most. Lifeline was created nearly 40 years ago with the aim of providing low-income households with low-cost landline telephony options. Now, nearly all U.S. households have telephone service and the Lifeline program plays an essential role in ensuring affordability. Prior to the pandemic, the Lifeline program provided mainly wireless communication services for low-income households; however, its $9.25/month subsidy resulted in service plans that restricted voice and data usage. As of June 20, 2021, approximately 6.9 million subscribers were enrolled in the Lifeline program—enrollees include low-income consumers, Veterans, people with disabilities, people on tribal lands, and other eligible Americans. Approximately 94 percent of all Lifeline participants subscribe to a mobile offering. Voice calling is the most important part of Lifeline service for 23 percent of subscribers, but two-thirds (68 percent) say voice, text, and data are all equally important to them.

In its recently released Draft Digital Opportunity Plan, the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development (OBD) envisions a future where digital equity connects all Minnesota residents to opportunities, options, and each other. The three goals highlighted in the plan—connect people to people, connect people to information, and connect people to resources—are ultimately limited, nodding to the moments where connections happen rather than the real systemic work it takes to sustain connections. To do so, OBD says, it will take people working together across the state with this shared vision. This plan presents an informational starting point. Progress toward digital opportunity in Minnesota has for so long depended on two groups:

1. digitally resilient Minnesotans, that is, the people who live the digital divide every day, and
2. advocates and educators, the people who share a vision where digital equity connects all Minnesotans to opportunities, options, and each other.

Digital Connection Committees (DCCs) are the heart of Minnesota’s digital opportunity planning process.

Illinois farmers and communities need broadband internet to thrive. The Illinois Innovation Network (IIN) and its driven partners intend to make that happen by securing federal dollars earmarked for bridging the digital divide. IIN-funded research will help them make their case. It provides attention-grabbing estimates of how much more farmers could produce with reliable internet. Public university partners said the total economic gain of added production that would accompany increased broadband coverage is 3.6% for corn and 3.8% for soybeans. That amounts to more than $42 million in added revenue per year just in the five-county Broadband Breakthrough pilot, which includes Hancock County where Bryan Stevens farms. “Through Broadband Breakthrough, we’re spotlighting the benefits of broadband. When I share the data, people are shocked,” Stevens said about both the cost of adding access and how much more farmers could earn. Illinois State University researcher John Kostelnick and his team layered data about cropland use and broadband coverage to make their impact projections. That work provides a toolkit for other counties to assess potential broadband value. Broadband Breakthrough uses Kostelnick’s research and other selling points to inform and engage stakeholders, some of which could provide grants and other support necessary to gain federal funding. Powerhouse equity advocate the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society manages Broadband Breakthrough. “What makes the Illinois effort ‘right’ is the breadth of partners working together to deliver and execute the program, plus the Illinois Office of Broadband recognizes how important it is to have community involvement in broadband infrastructure planning,” Benton Institute Executive Director Adrianne B. Furniss said.

By the end August 2023, adult content will get a lot harder to watch in Texas. Instead of clicking a button or entering a date of birth to access adult sites, users will need to provide photos of their official government-issued ID or use a third-party service to verify their age. It’s the result of a new law passed earlier in summer 2023 intended to prevent kids from seeing adult content online. But it’s also part of a broad — and worrying — attempt to age-gate the internet. In 2023, more than half a dozen states have passed similar legislation and even more are looking to follow suit. While these rules are focused on adult content, another raft of laws is aimed at locking down minors’ access to the internet more generally — including banning teens from social media without parental consent. Republicans and Democrats alike are backing age-gating bills. For some lawmakers, it’s an extension of a yearslong fight against Big Tech — a way to rein in the alleged harmful effects of social networks on youth. For others, it’s part of a much broader culture war. Conservative state houses and school districts have recently altered public school curriculums and banned books predominantly written by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. Online child protection bills are a new weapon in the fight. These parallel movements have created an unprecedented appetite for a new kind of internet. It’s one where parents might have far more control over what minors see online and kids are more shielded from the darker spaces on the internet. It’s also one where adults and young people alike could have trouble reading, watching, or otherwise engaging with constitutionally protected speech and where privacy is hard to find.

UScellular announced that it has received full access to the 5G C-Band spectrum it was awarded from Auction 107 in March 2021, allowing the company to expand its 5G network faster than anticipated. UScellular upgraded more than 440 cell sites in preparation for this spectrum access, and the company will turn on this enhanced 5G service in the coming weeks – three months ahead of schedule. C-Band spectrum technology brings faster data speeds and more capacity and enhances the network performance for customers. This 5G network expansion builds on UScellular’s recent 5G mid-band network launch that kicked off in 10 states earlier in 2023. 

Regional provider United Communications says it will invest $85 million to reach 77,000 members of the Middle Tennessee Electric (MTE) electric cooperative in Murfreesboro (TN). [United Communications is the broadband unit of MTE.] The multi-year project will add 1,400 route miles of fiber and be capable of providing multi-gigabit service to residential and business customers. The initiative is expected to add about 150 jobs in the area. An additional office will open in the city by the end of 2023. United Communications also will partner with the Murfreesboro Housing Authority to provide free Internet service to qualifying households.