Low-income

Puerto Rico’s mountainous geography and experience with natural disasters play a role in the digital divide that leaves too many without the ability to access broadband internet. Widespread damage to the island’s existing telecommunications infrastructure as a result of recent natural disasters—such as Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Hurricane Fiona, the 2020 earthquakes, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic—highlighted the importance of reliable and affordable broadband access, particularly for remote work, online learning, telehealth services, and connecting with the government.

In Indiana, 9.1 percent of survey respondents only had smartphone devices, compared to 86.4 percent with smartphones and at least one other device. Less than 5 percent of respondents either did not have devices or had devices other than smartphones.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) introduced a bicameral bill that would increase access to broadband service for low-income urban and rural Americans.  The Promoting Access to Broadband Act would help states increase awareness and enrollment in the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program and Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provide a monthly subsidy to help low-income households pay for their broadband and telephone service. The bill would:

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act Programs are critical for communities in need of access to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet. Recently, NTIA requested input from our stakeholders through a Request for Comment (RFC).

Baltimore City will distribute 30,000 free Chromebooks to eligible Baltimore City households. The Chromebooks were secured through a grant from the State of Maryland’s Connected Devices program, which is overseen by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and assists counties and municipal governments in their digital equity and inclusion efforts.

Last month, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society staff, fellows, former fellows, and friends attended the 51st Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) in Washington (DC). Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate Gigi Sohn delivered the keynote, Executive Director Adrianne Furniss awarded the

The City of Syracuse (NY), Community Broadband Network (CBN), and US Ignite launched the Surge Link, a high-speed Internet connectivity program. Surge Link aims to connect 2,500 underserved Syracuse families to high-speed, affordable broadband. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) subsidies make the no-cost service possible. US Ignite advised the City on the overall technology, deployment models, and funding strategy for Surge Link.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau took additional measures to ensure that providers are receiving reimbursement from the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) for fully subsidized service only for households using their service, as required by the FCC’s rules.

In the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress tasked the Federal Communications Commission to “take steps to ensure that all people of the United States benefit from equal access to broadband internet access within the service area of a provider of such service.” In the statute, the term “equal access” refers to “equal opportunity to subscribe to an offered service that provides comparable speeds, capacities, latency, and other quality of service metrics in a given area, for comparable terms and conditions.” In principle, Congress’s directive is straightforward and reasonable cons

The goal of the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Digital Equity Plan is to establish a roadmap that ensures everyone, regardless of their background or community, has access to the necessary technological resources to fully engage in our society, democracy, and economy. The Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet’s (ELC) Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has made the state's draft plan available to the public for feedback until October 15, 2023.