National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Making Internet for All Right Here in America
The Internet for All initiative is a critical component of the Biden-Harris Administration’s overall strategy to build a more dynamic economy. It will enable American workers and businesses to compete on the global stage and generate new economic opportunities in overlooked communities throughout the country. Internet for All will create as many as 150,000 jobs nationwide – but to maximize the economic potential of this initiative, manufacturers and Internet service providers will need to build right here in America.
Competition in the Mobile Application Ecosystem
After broad outreach, and input that included more than 150 comments from a diverse array of stakeholders, NTIA identified two key policy issues hindering a more competitive app ecosystem: 1) Consumers largely can’t get apps outside of the app store model, controlled by Apple and Google. This means innovators have very limited avenues for reaching consumers. 2) Apple and Google create hurdles for developers to compete for consumers by imposing technical limits, such as restricting how apps can function or requiring developers to go through slow and opaque review processes.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $500,000 in High-Speed Internet Grant to Passamaquoddy at Pleasant Point
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded $500,000 to the Passamaquoddy at Pleasant Point as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). With funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), this grant from the Internet for All initiative will support affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet access for 243 Passamaquoddy Tribal households and community anchor institutions, providing qualifying high-speed Internet service for 60 months.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces More Than $33.5 Million in Internet for All Grants to 12 Minority-Serving Colleges and Universities
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it has awarded 12 grants as part of the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program (CMC). These grants, totaling more than $33.5 million, will expand community technology hubs, upgrade classroom technology, and increase digital literacy skills at 12 minority-serving colleges and universities in 10 states. The awardees are as follows:
A $300 million down payment on Internet For All
NTIA ended 2022 by awarding $304 million in funding to every state, along with Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, for planning how to best deploy networks to connect everyone in America to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service. Each state has different needs and unique challenges in bridging the digital divide, and our planning grants recognize the importance of flexibility. Still, there are broad trends driving the ways states are putting this money to use:
NTIA Launches Inquiry on how Data Practices Affect Civil Rights
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has announced a Request for Comment on how companies’ data practices may impose outsized harm on marginalized or underserved communities. The ways in which firms collect, share, and use data can exacerbate existing structural inequities.
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Online job ads may be targeted based on real or perceived demographic characteristics such as age, sex, or race – reaching certain groups while ignoring others,
Advancing Internet For All
In order to meet the urgency of this moment to connect the unconnected, we continue to target June 30, 2023 as the date by which we will allocate each state and territory’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding for high-speed Internet service.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel Names Six Members to the Board of Directors of USAC
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appointed seven members to the Board of Directors of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). The three-year term for these positions begins on January 1, 2023.
Biden-Harris Administration Awards More Than $6 Million to Massachusetts in ‘Internet for All’ Planning Grants
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Massachusetts received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.