Devices

Former President Donald Trump questioned who was paying for the phones of illegal aliens, suggesting that the federal government is handing out high-quality cellphones to migrants as part of its purported efforts to flood the country with immigrants. This is the latest iteration of the political right’s frustration with the idea that the government (and, particularly, an incumbent Democratic president) is spending money on frivolous giveaways (in their estimation) to poor people of color. The government does have a program in which people seeking asylum are given mobile devices.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires the use of Made in America construction materials and manufactured products for federally funded infrastructure projects, including high-speed Internet service deployment under the Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative. As a result, Calix is announcing an initial investment of up to $6 million, and an ongoing investment for operations of up to $15 million per year, which will result in creating approximately 100 American jobs.

The Kentucky Office of Systems Equity in partnership with the Office of Broadband seeks public input on the draft of Kentucky’s first Digital Equity Plan. Obtaining input from Kentuckians on high-speed internet expansion and digital access throughout the commonwealth is part of the federal funding process.

The US is making unprecedented investments to ensure that individuals and communities have the capacity to fully participate in our society and economy via access to, and the use of, affordable information and communication technologies, such as wired and wireless broadband, internet-enabled devices, and applications and online content designed to enable and encourage self-sufficiency, participation, and collaboration. There’s an obvious and critical role for researchers to help guide this investment now and evaluate its effectiveness in the years to come.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) released the draft Wisconsin Digital Equity Plan for public comment. Once approved by the PSC, the Digital Equity Plan will guide the state’s strategy to improve digital equity, ensuring all in Wisconsin have the skills, devices, and broadband service necessary to fully participate in society and the economy. After the public comment period, the PSC will review the public comments and finalize the plan during an open meeting for submission to the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA).

Charter Communications awarded $1.1 million to 46 nonprofit organizations through its Spectrum Digital Education grant program. Charter has committed more than $9 million total to the initiative, which supports broadband technology programs, education, and training in unserved and underserved communities throughout Charter’s service area.

Some of the nation's top cable operators have begun to ramp up promotions focused on smartphone subsidies. These cable-led promotions mark a shift in the dynamics of the US mobile market, according to MoffettNathanson. Analyst Craig Moffett said this new wave of mobile promotional offers from operators such as Comcast, Charter, and Cox illustrates that they're indeed needed in today's competitive market. "Cable's emergence as a promotional discounter was entirely predictable, notwithstanding their early protests to the contrary," Moffett explained. However, he tempered predictions on how we

Over 12% of Indiana survey respondents did not pay for home internet in the previous 12 months. The biggest reasons were related to affordability and not only about home internet service but devices too. Lacking a desktop or laptop was the main reason why 7% of survey respondents did not use the internet daily. Additionally, survey respondents believed a home internet service was not necessary since their smartphones let them do everything they needed to do online.

Nationally, 85 percent of farms reported having access to the internet. In 2023, 51 percent of internet-connected farms utilized a broadband connection while 75 percent of internet-connected farms had access through a cellular data plan. Additionally, 69 percent of farms had a desktop or laptop computer while 82 percent of farms had a smartphone. In 2023, 32 percent of farms used the internet to purchase agricultural inputs, which was an increase of 3 percent from 2021.

At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 40% of California's Pre-K–12 households lacked “full digital access,” or reliable access to high-speed internet and a connected device, according to Census Bureau data. As part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) committed about $6.8 billion for schools and libraries to narrow the digital divide. As of the third and final funding window (fo