Adoption

In May 2023, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), the minority leader of the Senate Commerce Committee, sent a letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting an examination of how the Federal Communications Commission administers the Universal Service Fund (USF). The USF consists of money collected from telecommunications companies that is dedicated to fulfilling the goals of universal service.

Once considered only a place to borrow books, libraries are emerging as a resource to educate Californians on how to navigate the Internet, providing access to employment and training opportunities, online services like telehealth, and much more. To ensure that library patrons can make the most of these opportunities, libraries also provide in-house digital navigators trained to assist patrons in getting online and acquiring necessary digital skills.

Under President Joe Biden (D-DE), we’re finally rebuilding our roads, bridges, ports, airports, water systems, electric grids, broadband, and more, paving the way for a great American “Infrastructure Decade” that will create hundreds of thousands of good-paying union jobs. We are bringing affordable, reliable, high-speed internet to every American household. High-speed internet is as vital to our economy today as electricity first was a century ago; Americans need it to do their jobs, to do their homework, to access healthcare, and to stay connected.

With Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding, the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) will deploy broadband infrastructure to un-connected, unserved, underserved, and community anchor institution (CAI) locations throughout the state. Maine’s long-term broadband deployment goals are established by statute and include: "Secure, affordable, reliable, competitive and sustainable forward-looking advanced communications technology infrastructure that can meet current and future needs." Cost is a significant barrier to broadband adoption for many Mainers.

The digital divide in Illinois remains wide and deep. At least 2.9 million individuals in 1.3 million households (roughly 28 percent) do not have a subscription to high-speed internet. This gap is driven by gaps in infrastructure availability, affordability of subscriptions or devices, and/or limited digital skills. The state of Illinois is committed to changing this picture. Digital equity requires affordable broadband.

Arizona's economic and cultural identity has long been anchored by the "5 C's": Copper, Cattle, Cotton, Citrus, and Climate. The next chapter of Arizona’s story adds a "6th C"—Connectivity. This new cornerstone represents the state's commitment to expand universal broadband internet access for all Arizonans. The Arizona Commerce Authority aims to bridge the digital divide and foster a more connected, inclusive, and prosperous Arizona.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced the counties in which conditional forbearance from the obligation to offer Lifeline-supported voice service applies. This forbearance applies only to the Lifeline voice obligation of eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) that are designated for purposes of receiving both high-cost and Lifeline support (high-cost/Lifeline ETCs), and not to Lifeline-only ETCs.

US cable operators are struggling to return to broadband subscriber growth, but their mobile strategies continued to bear fruit in the second quarter of 2024. Cable's share of total mobile phone net adds (both post-paid and pre-paid) was roughly 54 percent in the quarter, MoffettNathanson found in its latest analysis of the US mobile market. Analyst Craig Moffett attributes the bulk of US cable's mobile growth to relatively lower pricing when compared to many of the plans offered by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.

According to the American Community Survey, 94.1 percent of Maryland residents have a home internet subscription of some kind which—while outperforming the national rate by 3.8 percentage points—still indicates that a sizable number of Maryland households are disconnected from the internet at home.

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).