Marginalized Populations

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and her fellow Commissioners heard reports on the agency’s efforts to expand connectivity and access to modern-day communications. The presentation summarized the Commission’s efforts on providing fast, reliable and affordable internet, an essential element for personal and professional aspects of everyday life. These efforts included:

In 2022, Color Of Change pioneered the first Black Tech Agenda, which aimed to foster racial equity within technology by dismantling entrenched racism and promoting greater Black representation in technological decision-making roles.

As the Senate Commerce Committee is set to convene for the first time in the 119th Congress, we look at the membership of the panel and their priorities when it comes to broadband policy. Previously, we looked at the priorities of Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who sits on the Commerce Committee as well. The committee includes 15 Republicans and 13 Democrats. 

The National Telecommunications Administration (NTIA) awarded the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Commission for Educational Technology over $9 million in Digital Equity Capacity Grant funding towards implementing the state's Digital Equity Plan.

The New York law requiring Internet providers to offer cheap plans to people with low incomes will take effect on January 15 following a multi-year court battle in which the state defeated broadband industry lobby groups. A US appeals court upheld the law in April 2024, reversing the ruling of a district judge who blocked it in 2021.

The Eliminating Barriers to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility (E-BRIDGE) Act, was signed into law as part of the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (S. 4367). S. 4367 was approved by both House and Senate in December 2024. The E-BRIDGE Act removes hurdles for broadband projects under Economic Development Administration (EDA) grants, including difficult last-mile efforts that often delay rural broadband deployment.

A comprehensive and ongoing assessment and celebration of states’ digital inclusion work. This new evaluation reflects a broader focus on other components of digital inclusion and reflects a range of activities that state governments can engage in:

Private and federal broadband investments have achieved universal broadband deployment throughout the United States. Still, barriers that prevent some households from accessing the Internet remain. This lack of broadband adoption, not lack of deployment, is the central reason for the remaining digital divide. Therefore, identifying and addressing barriers to broadband adoption should be the core of broadband policy. One major barrier to broadband adoption is whether low-income households can afford it.

The vast majority of funding in the immense Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is focused on building physical networks to locations where people are unconnected or insufficiently connected. Investments and research have traditionally privileged the wires and poles of broadband infrastructure without accounting for or making explicit the human infrastructure needed to enable digital opportunity.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau adopted the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric, the most up-to-date and comprehensive source for identifying broadband serviceable locations (BSLs), as the basis it will rely on for generally verifying compliance with high-cost program deployment obligations and for adjusting the location obligations for certain high-cost support mechanisms.