Individuals who primarily Reside in a Rural Area

The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded a $2.7 million grant to Golden State Finance Authority, Sacramento, California, for high-speed internet planning. This grant is funded by the American Rescue Plan. This project will support the development of a strategic plan to guide the expansion of high-speed internet across 26 rural counties of California. This EDA grant will be matched with $1.2 million in local funds and is expected to generate $400 million in private investment, according to grantee estimates.

The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded a $4.5 million Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Recovery Assistance grant to the Port of Lewiston, Lewiston, Idaho, to expand internet connectivity for commerce, public health and safety and learning in North Central Idaho. This project will support the construction of a 95-mile segment of fiberoptic cable running from Moscow to Grangeville. This EDA grant will be matched with $1.1 million in local funds and is expected to create 120 jobs, according to grantee estimates. 

The Federal Communications Commission authorize $791,604,299 through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) to six providers to fund new broadband deployments to over 350,000 estimated locations in 19 states. The top three states receiving funding include Illinois, $212 million, Arizona, $140 million, and Iowa, $113 million. This round of funding supports projects using a range of network technologies, including gigabit service hybrid fiber/fixed wireless deployments that will provide end-user locations with either fiber or fixed wireless network service using licensed spectrum.

Indiana Governor, Eric Holcomb (R-IN) and Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch (R-IN) are leading the largest broadband investment in the state's history. Ball State University researchers found that thousands of homes across the state--urban and rural, low-income, and non-English speaking--experience the brunt of lacking access to broadband internet access. To combat this, Lt. Gov Suzanne Crouch created the Office of Broadband Opportunities in 2018 to identify needs and eliminate roadblocks to broadband deployment and digital literacy in the state.

Pershing County, Nevada is one of many rural communities throughout the US that will receive new, fiber optic, high-speed internet connections through the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) ReConnect Program.

Auction 108 of spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band closed after raising less than $428 million, a considerably lower amount in comparison with what we have seen in other recent auctions. The spectrum is considered mid-band, which is widely seen as supporting the optimum mixture of speed and coverage for 5G.

Broadband internet access has been slow to reach rural communities, but the Town of Nichols in Tioga County (NY) is addressing this through an open-access fiber network. Called "Nichols Fiber,"  the network could close the gap and bring the town reliable internet service.

In Beaver and Fayette Counties, Pennsylvania, the "Connect Beaver County Broadband Program" by the Butler, Pennsylvania-based Armstrong company, and Arkansas-based Windstream, was chosen to provide internet services to several locations throughout the two counties. The projects are a part of the counties' larger efforts to bring new broadband and improved services to parts of 24 municipalities within the county by utilizing nearly $20 million in American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funding. The counties aim to expand broadband service where service is poor or unavailable.

Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Brendan Carr made headlines when he denounced the FCC's decision to deny Starlink $885.5 million in broadband subsidy support from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I auction.

I define the digital divide as a technology gap where good broadband is available in some places, but not everywhere. The technology divide can be as large as an entire county that doesn’t have broadband or as small as a pocket of homes or apartment buildings in cities that got bypassed. Until late in the 1990s, the only way for most people to get onto the Internet was by the use of dial-up access through phone lines.  At first, dial-up technology was only available to people who lived in places where an ISP had established local dial-up telephone numbers.