Marketplace
The government is making broadband more affordable — for now. How do we make that permanent?
Congress created a $3 billion fund to provide low-income Americans with $50 per month for broadband service. The subsidies start May 12 and the program is, for now, temporary.
High-speed internet is the new space race. But do the economics work?
The White House’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan proposes $100 billion for broadband. Right now, however, it is hard to get broadband to large expanses of this country unless the infrastructure is in space. Low-Earth-orbit satellite constellations could bring high-speed internet access to those areas. Elon Musk’s Starlink is the best known, but there are a few other companies in the mix. Who could benefit from this new version of satellite internet? Sascha Segan from PCMag says, "This is going to be transformative for people in rural areas.
As telecommunications companies spend billions on wireless, where does that leave the wired?
A Q&A with Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance.
$1 billion toward better tribal broadband is just a down payment
A Q&A with Matthew Rantanen, director of technology at the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association, which runs a wireless network that provides service to 19 tribes near San Diego. He also advocates for policy that will help tribes and said that money is just a baseline. The CARES Act created a $1 billion fund to help tribes build their own networks. It is a good foundational start. But there’s more to be done.
Some tribes are getting help narrowing the digital divide
In Indian Country, the proportion of households with high-speed internet access has consistently lagged behind the rest of the US. There has been some work to improve things, with an influx of federal funding helping some tribes build their own broadband networks. A Federal Communications Commission program is giving tribes across the US wireless-spectrum licenses for free.
Bringing back net neutrality rules is high on Biden’s tech agenda
A Q&A with former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler. He says one major issue for the Biden FCC will likely be restoring Obama-era net neutrality rules that required internet service providers to offer equal access to content on the web. Current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai reversed those rules in 2017. President-elect Joe Biden will prioritize more spending on broadband infrastructure.