California

On October 25, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded over $70 million in funding to California through the Digital Equity Act's Capacity Grant Program.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved $157 million in the eighth round of grants for last-mile broadband projects as part of the $2 billion Last Mile Federal Funding Account grant program, which expands broadband internet access for underserved and unserved communities across California.

Subsidies like the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) are unaffordable and set communities up for failure, according to Eric Sasaki, the manager of major programs at L.A. County’s internal services department. To address the digital divide in Los Angeles County, Sasaki said the county has chosen another path. “We were very flexible in terms of how we approached our model,” Sasaki said.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Privacy and Data Protection Task Force announced a new Memorandum of Understanding with the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA).

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved and recommended for award an application from California, allowing the state to request access to more than $70 million to implement its Digital Equity Plan. This funding comes from the $1.44 billion State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, one of three Digital Equity Act grant programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The state will use the funding to implement key digital equity initiatives.

California: $70,226,453

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved California’s Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative. This approval enables California to request access to funding and begin implementation of the BEAD program. California was allocated over $1.8 billion to deploy or upgrade high-speed Internet networks to ensure that everyone has access to reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet service.  

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved $172 million in the sixth round of grants for last mile broadband projects as part of the $2 billion Last Mile Federal Funding Account Grant Program, which expands broadband internet access for underserved and unserved communities across California.

The California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) announced the award of $20,000 Digital Equity Leadership Grants to 36 jurisdictions in California to participate in the Local Government Best Practices Check List Project to accelerate the adoption of policies and practices to accelerate progress in closing the Digital Divide in California. The CETF Digital Equity Leadership Grants are made possible as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between CETF and T‐Mobile USA in which T‐Mobile committed to specified public benefits in conjunction with its acquisition of Sprint in 2020, inclu

California will now require social media companies to moderate the spread of election-related impersonations powered by artificial intelligence, known as “deepfakes,” after Gov Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed three new laws on the subject on September 17. The three laws, including a first-of-its-kind law that imposes a new requirement on social media platforms, largely deal with banning or labeling deepfakes. Only one of the laws will