Digital Divide

President Biden’s bid to inject government deeper into the private sector is getting its first big test in the broadband industry. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill would wire communities across the country that companies haven’t reached and subsidize bills for low-income households. Private companies would be required to publish details about their products, much like nutrition labels, and offer low-cost service plans if they take federal funds to help build networks.

Tucson, Arizona has built a private wireless network to provide broadband to low-income households for free.

Ziply Fiber is bringing gigabit-speed fiber Internet service to 14 additional markets across Washington and Oregon. This latest expansion, which includes both suburban and rural towns, is in addition to the 22 new market builds announced in Spring 2021. This brings the total number of fiber expansion markets since Ziply acquired the Northwest operations of Frontier Communications in 2020 to 52.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced the creation of a Broadband Development Office (BDO), which will award grants and loans and provide other incentives in the interest of expanding access to broadband in underserved areas.

The Senate gave overwhelming bipartisan approval to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill to rebuild the nation’s deteriorating roads and bridges and fund new climate resilience and broadband initiatives, delivering a key component of President Biden’s agenda. The legislation would be the largest infusion of federal investment into infrastructure projects in more than a decade, touching nearly every facet of the American economy and fortifying the nation’s response to the warming of the planet. The bill allocates $65 billion for broadband infrastructure in these areas:

The Anti-Digital Redlining Act of 2021 (HR.4875), sponsored by Rep Yvette Clarke (D-NY), would require the FCC to investigate whether internet service providers have discriminatory practices based on income, race, color religion, national origin, and other factors within a geographic area. It also calls for a consumer-centric analysis of franchise agreements between local governments and telecommunications providers.

Tennessee will spend $500 million of its funding from the American Rescue Plan to expand broadband, though exactly where the money goes hinges on a statewide coverage map that’s still being developed.

Verizon is doubling down on its commitment to help ensure no student is left behind, providing education technology resources in support of digital inclusion with a number of initiatives to integrate immersive STEM technology into classrooms and communities. This includes:

In the United States, we need to connect 100 percent of our households to broadband. The Lifeline program remains a valuable tool for helping achieve this goal, by making internet access more affordable.

MTA Fiber Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alaskan telecommunications cooperative MTA that is responsible for the creation of AlCan ONE, is the first-ever terrestrial fiber network connecting Alaska with the lower 48 US states. Alaskans previously relied solely on subsea cables for that connectivity, explained MTA CEO Michael Burke. MTA undertook the AlCan ONE project because, as Burke explained, “We needed to explore owner economics.” In making the decision to do the fiber build, MTA “looked at our projected capacity needs going into the future and how much bandwidth we would need [b