Low-income

Under the leadership of the White House, the Department of Education partnered with Civic Nation to launch the Online For All Campaign, bringing together a diverse coalition of supporting organizations to engage in local community action and large-scale mobilization efforts to ensure every household can get online.

Limited global research exists about girls’ and boys’ access to and use of mobile phones. For girls, access is much more diverse and colourful than simply whether they ‘have’ or ‘have not’ got a phone. Access is often transient, and diverse ownership, borrowership and sharing practices are flourishing. Boys are 1.5 times more likely to own a phone and 1.8 times more likely to own a smartphone. They're also more likely to use phones in more diverse and internet-enabled ways than girls. Girls are going to great lengths to gain access.

Having a high-speed internet connection—and the ability to use it—is critical to modern life. One major challenge persists: we can run fiber broadband to every home in North Carolina, but if the residents can’t afford the service, they still risk being left behind. Fortunately, Congress created a tremendously impactful tool to combat the high costs of internet service as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). I urge you to reauthorize this critical program that makes internet access more affordable.

Mayor Jim Strickland (D-Memphis) unveiled a program that could create affordable broadband internet access for thousands of Memphians currently living without it. The plan would partner the city with a private telecommunications company to install fiber optic cables to at least 6,000 properties—both residential and commercial. The applicant awarded the contract would have to meet a series of guidelines, and if the City of Memphis finds that the company is not in compliance with the requirements, it could remove the "Smart City Fiber Access System" designation—which allows that company to pa

Without reliable, affordable internet, rural communities have limited economic opportunities and lack access to education, healthcare, and many other services. Broadband expansion is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, said Adrianne Furniss, director of the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society.

Google Fiber is now offering 300 Mbps for $30 a month to customers who are participating in the Federal Communication Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) program. With the $30 subsidy, this plan is available at no cost to Google's ACP customers.

Mediacom has completed a fiber-optic network expansion in rural Truesdale (IA), delivering phone plans and download speeds of up to 2 Gbps with a focus on low-cost accessibility. Truesdale is the tenth community that Mediacom, the fifth largest cable operator in the US, has constructed through collaboration with the Empower Iowa Rural Broadband Grant Program. The operator has expanded its fiber network to over 1,400 locations in rural Iowa through that public-private partnership.

There have been several lawsuits over the last few years that challenge the legitimacy of the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund (USF). A suit from a non-profit group called Consumers’ Research argues that USF fees are taxes and that the original creation of the USF was unconstitutional since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 gave the FCC the power to levy taxes.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) released the draft Wisconsin Digital Equity Plan for public comment. Once approved by the PSC, the Digital Equity Plan will guide the state’s strategy to improve digital equity, ensuring all in Wisconsin have the skills, devices, and broadband service necessary to fully participate in society and the economy. After the public comment period, the PSC will review the public comments and finalize the plan during an open meeting for submission to the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA).

Congress is veering toward a potential government shutdown with no sign that the ongoing partisan divide over the budget will end anytime soon. So now, without delay, we need to identify opportunities for collaboration that result in tangible benefits for the public. One such opportunity is the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).