Individuals who primarily Reside in a Rural Area

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr joined Rep John Joyce (R-PA) in Blair County, Pennsylvania, for a roundtable discussion on the Biden-Harris Administration’s $42 billion plan for extending Internet service throughout rural America. Commissioner Carr and Rep Joyce heard directly from a range of stakeholders that want to see new Internet builds in their communities—from healthcare, education, economic, local government, and other leaders to the broadband builders that are ready to get the job done. Commissioner Carr said:

In the coming months, more than $42 billion in federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funds will be distributed among U.S. states and territories. Federal and state policymakers have key roles to play in supporting the efforts of the BEAD program. On the federal level, policymakers should focus on removing regulatory barriers rather than erecting new ones.

The mission of the Indiana Broadband Office (IBO) is to assist residents in need of affordable and reliable broadband connectivity. IBO recognizes that affordability is an important component of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program and that deployment without affordable options will severely limit Indiana residents’ ability to navigate the internet effectively and utilize digital services.

Vice President Kamala Harris (D-CA), the Democratic nominee for president, has chosen Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate, elevating a former football coach whose rural roots, liberal policies, and buzzy takedowns of former President Donald Trump have recently put him on the map. Gov Walz emerged from a field of candidates who had better name recognition and more politically advantageous home states.

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a photo of two little girls in the parking lot of a California Taco Bell went viral. They were doing their schoolwork on laptops in that inconvenient location because the restaurant provided free Wi-Fi, which they didn’t have at home. The girls came to symbolize the digital underclass that’s emerged since the rise of the internet.

Hawaii’s broadband landscape has challenges like no other U.S. state. So how do you deliver broadband access to 100% of the residents and businesses in the most remote of the 50 states? “100% is hard to get to, but we’re going to make a really good try to get there,” said Garret Yoshimi, Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer of the University of Hawaii. Yoshimi is not Hawaii’s state broadband director.

How much power may Congress hand off to the Washington bureaucracy? That’s a live question, so grab the popcorn to read a decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In a 9-7 en banc ruling, it invalidated a “universal service” surcharge added to cellphone bills.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Arizona's Initial Proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.

In 2022, the Colorado Broadband Office (CBO) commissioned a survey of 2,000+ Coloradans, 18+ agencies, 200+ local governments, nonprofits, and organizations serving marginalized populations to assess the current state of broadband in Colorado. At the time, only approximately 76 percent of households in Colorado subscribed to broadband despite over 90 percent having access.

Sen Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced new legislation to help deliver reliable internet to more rural Americans by returning dormant federal funding back to the state it was intended for. The Federal Communications Commission’s current funding structure favors large companies that reap billions in federal government contracts meant to provide high-speed internet access to rural communities.