Community Anchor Institutions

Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the Clarifying E-Rate Act of 2024, which would expand Wi-Fi access to school buses by making them permanently eligible for E-Rate funding, a program that provides discounts to schools and libraries for affordable telecommunications and internet access.

The rapid transition to a digital front door of healthcare prompted by the pandemic made evident disparities in who had access to digital tools. Like other healthcare organizations, at the beginning of the pandemic, we found disparities in access to patient portals and video visits. Digital disparities are driven by multiple factors including lack of internet access, devices, language-adapted platforms as well as limited digital literacy.

The Nevada Governor’s Office of Science, Innovation and Technology (OSIT) is pleased to announce the creation of the Nevada Middle Mile Network.The Nevada Middle Mile Network is a 2,500-mile open access, fiber optic network that will reach many unserved communities in Nevada. Construction of the middle mile network will enable OSIT to bring better connectivity to hundreds of unserved K-12 schools, libraries, State and local government facilities, and community anchor institutions in the coming years.

Digital equity cannot be fully realized without the participation of educational institutions, including K-12 public schools, community colleges, historically black and other minority serving colleges and universities, and extension programs. Many state digital equity plans embrace education and potential collaborations with educational institutions. All states acknowledge that digital equity is critical to education.

The Affordability Connectivity Program, a federal program that helped lower-income households pay their Internet bills and connect to the Internet, fully expires at the end of May, but Rep Kathy Manning (D-NC) is calling for it to continue. Rep Manning enlisted Guilford County and Rockingham County schools superintendents and State Senator Michael Garrett (D-27), to help make the case. Rockingham County Superintendent John Stover said the school district invested effort and dollars, alongside other partners, toward expanding infrastructure for families to access the Internet in the county.

North Texas Innovation Alliance is a 501(c)3 regional consortium of over 40 municipalities, agencies, corporations and academic institutions across North Texas working to create the most connected, smart and resilient region in the country. The alliance is re-launching the "Internet for North Texas Coalition” (I4NTX).

As a national leader in developing the broadband workforce, the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) is proud to announce it has launched a new Connecting Minority Communities Apprenticeship Consortium (CMCAC) with three HBCUs: Central State University, Tennessee State University, and Virginia State University. Apprenticeships are a proven model for building a diverse and highly skilled workforce to meet the demands of broadband and 5G buildout.

Broadband champions can be the decisive factors in efforts to improve community connectivity. The work of broadband champions has been shaped by the particularities of their broadband contexts: the local political will, the existing providers, the topography, and the wide-ranging motivations and strategies. What they have in common is their dedication, which has proved to be crucial in helping their communities get high-speed broadband.

Two concrete examples of rapidly growing broadband demand are schools and internet service provider (ISP) backhaul. A decade ago, there was a scramble to get gigabit broadband access to schools. Because of the use of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) E-rate money, a lot of schools across the country got connected to fiber and were able to buy faster broadband. The original goal was to get a gigabit connection to each school, and almost every school in many states met that goal.

Librarians are mounting a fierce state-by-state battle against the high prices they pay to provide patrons with e-books—so far, with little to show for it. Th