Digital Divide

Elon Musk said his Starlink satellite internet service is now operating in a hospital in Gaza, following months of negotiations over humanitarian exceptions to an internet blackout Israel imposed across the war-battered territory. Musk wrote that Starlink was now active there with the support of Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which has been involved in negotiations to mitigate some effects of the Israel-Gaza war.

As required by the Digital Equity Act, the $1.25 billion Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program will be established soon, making hundreds of millions of dollars available in the first Notice of Funding Opportunity to implement digital inclusion projects. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act mandates that funding be directed towards programs designed to empower those impacted by the digital divide, known as Covered Populations.

Donald Trump supports a lighter regulatory touch on AI and other emerging technologies, while Vice President Kamala Harris understands the way AI is transforming communications and service delivery, and the need for public oversight. A President Harris would likely continue Biden’s tough antitrust enforcement.

Governor Laura Kelly (D-KS) announced that $10 million has been awarded to 12 internet service providers (ISPs) in the latest round of Broadband Acceleration Grants. The awards will be paired with an additional $12.7 million in matching funds, resulting in an investment of nearly $22.7 million for high-speed broadband access projects across 14 rural Kansas counties. Initiated in 2020, the Broadband Acceleration Grant is a 10-year, $85 million program designed to bring essential internet access to Kansas communities.

They say Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither is broadband. One in five New Mexicans don’t have reliable high-speed internet at a time when such technology is a necessity, not a luxury. It’s imperative that constituents, households, businesses and other entities have broadband that delivers telehealth, distance learning, government services, job creation, economic growth and other vital services. Throughout New Mexico—particularly in rural areas and the 23 tribal communities—lack of accessible and reliable internet continues to hinder people from getting online.

Delaware’s goal for broadband deployment is to be the first state to deliver universal broadband—that is, to ensure an affordable high-speed internet connection to all homes and businesses. Affordability is the second most common reason for nonsubscription cited by Delawarean households who do not purchase home internet service—ranking above a lack of need for or interest in service, and slightly below service not being available. The struggle of some Delaware residents to afford broadband services, devices, and technical support restricts their ability to fully engage in the digital world.

That universal broadband access is a goal worth pursuing has become conventional wisdom. The risk of being elevated to conventional wisdom is that the root arguments bury themselves so deeply that alternate notions sprout and threaten them. While broadband access touches social, cultural, political, health-related and even spiritual elements of modern life, let’s focus on two: education and economics. That’s where the digital divide can do the most damage. Anyone who has hopped on to YouTube for an appliance repair or software how-to knows the value of instructional show-and-tell.

Francisco Cigarroa, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Ford Foundation, announced that president Darren Walker has shared his plans to step down from the foundation by the end of 2025. The Ford Foundation Board of Trustees will oversee the presidential leadership transition process.

West Virginia's plan for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funds aims to ensure that every resident has access to reliable, affordable, and high-speed broadband and the ability to use it effectively. The cost of high-speed broadband internet service in West Virginia remains a significant barrier to adoption.

Recently participants gathered in a home movie theater on Matthew Rantanen’s ranch in Southern California to shine a beam of light through more than 55,000 feet (17 kilometers) of fiber optic cable coiled up in the corner. The demonstration took place during a hands-on broadband training for tribal nations where participants handled fiber made up of strands of glass as thin as human hair that transmit energy through pulses of light. The session was part of an initiative founded in 2021 by Rantanen and his business partner, Christopher Mitchell, to help shore up historic disparities in conne