Individuals who are Members of a Racial or Ethnic Minority Group

The Oklahoma Broadband Office (OBO) released the state's draft Digital Equity Plan with one goal in mind: to fulfill Oklahoma's Digital Promise. That promise, more specifically, is to ensure all Oklahomans can access and use affordable internet to advance health care, education, business, agriculture, public safety, and community development.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is scheduled to vote Nov 15 on an order on preventing digital discrimination, but a new round of industry filings, plus commentary from FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, suggests there may be legal challenges ahead to the new rules. According to filings with the FCC, industry groups and service providers are taking issue with the agency’s definition of digital discrimination, along with other aspects of the draft order.

Early in the pandemic, Black churches often struggled to make the switch to remote services for lack of broadband in their area. Even if a church had the wherewithal to livestream services or hold meetings on video platforms, congregants lacked the connections to take advantage.

Internet service providers and their lobby groups are fighting the Federal Communications Commission's plan to prohibit discrimination in access to broadband services.

On November 11 each year, we are asked to recognize that our military and veteran families answer our Nation’s call to duty—and we recommit to doing right by their service and sacrifice. This year that recommitment must include ensuring that our veterans don't fall onto the wrong side of the digital divide. This year, our recommitment to veterans must include a recommitment to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

In October 2023, the Biden Administration called on the Federal Communications Commission to implement provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The FCC will vote on Nov 15 on new rules; I oppose the plan for several reasons:

In “Digital and Equity and Justice in Maryland: Challenges and Opportunities” recently published by Economic Action Maryland, I present findings from a qualitative study that sought to answer the following research question: What is the landscape of issues related to universal broadband access, digital equity, and related community standards in Baltimore City and across the state of Maryland? My hope was that the findings would be useful for residents, policymakers, and other stakeholders interested in advancing broadband access and d

The Federal Communications Commission plans to adopt both a disparate treatment (intent) and disparate impact (effects) analysis to determine whether there is any discrimination of internet access.

The Oregon Broadband Office (OBO) released the draft State of Oregon Digital Equity Plan which outlines how Oregon will use federal funds to provide reliable, affordable, high-speed internet, computing devices, and digital skills training to people who need it most. OBO developed the draft Digital Equity Plan after a robust public engagement and planning process to capture the diverse voices and lived experiences of all people and to identify the needs and barriers to digital equity. The draft State of Oregon Digital Equity Plan contains seven key sections.

Congress is discussing a number of different scenarios to continue funding the Affordable Connectivity Program once the remaining funds are depleted, which is projected to happen in the first half of 2024. Several of the scenarios being considered involve changes to the current eligibility criteria. Here we examine the potential impact of lowering the household income eligibility threshold, currently set at 200 percent of the federal poverty line (FPL).