Marginalized Populations

Broadband access is an essential social determinant of health, the importance of which was made apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to understand disparities in broadband access within cities and identify potential solutions to increase urban access. This was a descriptive secondary analysis using multi-year cross-sectional survey data. Data were obtained from the City Health Dashboard and American Community Survey.

The Federal Communications Commission has directed the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau to offer an additional funding opportunity of up to $10 million for the National Competitive Outreach Grant Program (NCOP) and the Tribal Competitive Outreach Grant Program (TCOP), which are components of the Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program. This maximum of $10 million will come from a combination of: (a) unspent funding – funding previously allocated to the Outreach Grant Program but not awarded; and (b) unobligated funding – funding from the $100 million Affordable Connectivity P

The Federal Communications Commission is targeting approximately $7.445 million for two additional one-year, pilot outreach grant programs to raise awareness of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The two pilot programs will test a variety of methods to reach out to federal housing communities, and work with trusted third parties to assist consumers with completing and submitting an ACP application. The FCC selected 23 applicants for the Your Home, Your Internet Program and 9 applicants for the ACP Navigator Pilot Program.

Nextlink is almost 2 years ahead of schedule in its Federal Communications Commission's Connect America Fund II (CAF II) broadband network construction. Nextlink was supposed to be 40% complete with its $281 million CAF II program construction but has in fact built 70% of its required locations across six states.

In a letter to the leaders of the Congressional Committees on Agriculture, a coalition of partners in rural development, education and communications urged Congress to "aim for levels of connectivity in USDA programs that will meet the needs of rural Americans not just today but well into the future." They wrote, "we encourage you to continue to put the interests of rural communities first by codifying in the Farm Bill a minimum service level commitment of 100 Mbps symmetrical broadband service – the level specified in the oversubscribed third round of ReConnect – for any applicant seeking

The Federal Communications Commission has asked for a budget increase of a little more than 5 percent for fiscal 2024 (FY 2024), given inflation and its goal of getting broadband to 100% of the US in an equitable and inclusive way. In its budget request to Congress, the FCC said its top priority is the universal broadband the Biden administration has said should be achievable by the end of the decade. To do that, the agency said, it wants a 5.3

Prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, adoption of telemedicine was slow and its usage was rare. However, during the pandemic, usage of telemedicine increased dramatically with physicians using a number of telemedicine tools to deliver health services, while limiting patients’ exposure to the virus. Wide use of telemedicine may impact various aspects of health care delivery such as quality, cost, and access to care. Thus, a detailed understanding about the usage of telemedicine is vital to develop better policies associated with health care delivery.

New polling shows that the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is overwhelmingly popular among Republican, Democratic, and Independent voters alike. A strong, bipartisan majority of voters (78 percent) support continuing the ACP, including 64 percent of Republicans, 70 percent of Independents, and 95 percent of Democrats, according to a national survey of 1,000 registered voters conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and RG Strategies in January 2023. Similar majorities also hold for urban, suburban, and rural households, who all support ACP by 68 percent or more. 

The Affordable Connectivity Congressional Map illustrates estimated enrollment in the Affordability Connectivity Program (ACP) by congressional district and state. The following states rank highest for ACP enrollment: Louisiana (21%), Kentucky (18%), New Mexico (18%), North Carolina (17%), Ohio (17%), South Carolina (16%), Alabama (16%), Mississippi (15%), New York (15%), and Oklahoma (15%). Enrollment is high in both rural and urban areas.

Kentucky, which only established its broadband office in 2022, is putting in some hard, and in some cases unique, work to enhance internet access and prepare for the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Meghan Sandfoss, executive director for Kentucky’s Office of Broadband Development, delved into some of the challenges the state has encountered.