Digital Divide

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr announced the appointment of Acting Bureau leadership as well as the Acting General Counsel and Managing Director. The full list of these appointments is as followed:

Alabama has become a national model for state initiative and success in broadband policy and strategy, showcasing the effectiveness of early planning, substantial executive and legislative support, and strategic use of federal funds. Since 2017, Alabama leaders have consistently acted on the vision of a connected state, supporting and funding broadband initiatives designed to reach every community, from population centers to the state’s rural Black Belt.

Following up on the release of The Human Infrastructure of Broadband: Looking Back, Looking Around, and Looking Ahead, we are providing examples of core, complementary, and coalition models for digital equity work. With 27 locations, the Denver Public Library (DPL) is an innovative hub for digital equity throughout the city, serving more than 700,000 residents. The library provides more than 1,400 public internet computers that receive more than 250,000 uses annually, as well as free public Wi-Fi.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved $32.5 million in broadband investments for California to help close the digital divide, as follows:  

President Biden made a commitment to connect everyone in America to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet by 2030. We are on track to meet that goal. In the coming years, the work started by the Biden Administration is expected to deliver the following benefits and milestones:

In early 2022, the U.S. Senate confirmed Alan Davidson to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information—and to lead the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). In the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress charged the NTIA with administering $48.2 billion in federal investments to close the digital divide—including the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment​ (BEAD) Program.

Digital skills and access to educational materials at home are critical for preparing students for the future. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic put into sharp focus the divide between students with and without consistent, reliable broadband and device access.

A look at the impacts of universal service support mechanisms and the method used to finance them. Section 1 of the report provides an update on industry revenues, universal service program funding requirements, and contribution factors. Sections 2 through 5 provide the latest data on the low-income, high-cost, schools and libraries, and rural health care support mechanisms. Section 6 presents recent U.S.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has a "fairly lengthy list" of last-minute Biden regulations that Republicans may try to undo in the coming weeks. The Congressional Review Act (CRA) gives Congress until mid-May to reverse what Republicans are calling the "midnight rules" of the Biden administration.

Gov. Kay Ivey (R-AL) has awarded a $2.9 million grant to expand high-speed internet access in Etowah County, Alabama. The grant was awarded to Spectrum Southeast in support of a project to make high-speed internet available to 352 previously unserved households, businesses and community institutions in the Ridgeville area. The grant money is being made available through the Capital Projects Fund program, which is supported by funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.