Marginalized Populations

Marginalized populations are those excluded from mainstream social, economic, educational, and/or cultural life. Examples of marginalized populations include, but are not limited to, groups excluded due to race, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, language, and/or immigration status.

(August 19, 2022)

Biden-Harris Administration Announces More Than $40.3 Million in High-Speed Internet Grants for Tribal Lands

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded nine grants as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). These new grants, totaling more than $40.3 million, bring the total of the program to nearly $1.7 billion awarded to 130 Tribal entities.

A Colorado for All Requires Broadband Investment

In 2012, Governor John Hickenlooper (D-CO) charged the Colorado Office of Information Technology (OIT) with overseeing and coordinating broadband activity across state agencies. In 2016, OIT created the Colorado Broadband Office.

An analysis of the neutrality of "tech neutrality" in broadband coverage

When the Federal Communications Commission's new broadband maps came out, we were quick to compare the number of unserved locations in the new maps to the number of unserved housing units in the previous Form 477 data. As expected, the number of unserved locations doubled, from 3.6 million to 7.8 million. But that comparison isn’t apples-to-apples.

What Do We Mean When We Say Digital Discrimination?

Back in 1996, Congress amended the Communications Act to include antidiscrimination as part of American telecommunications policy.

NTIA Features 40 Local Governments' Digital Equity and Inclusion Resources

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is highlighting a variety of digital equity and inclusion activities occurring in 40 different city and county governments on the Digital Inclusion map on the BroadbandUSA website. The site includes local government digital equity and inclusion websites, leaders, coordinators, resources, and plans.

The Capital Projects Fund Helps Utah Bridge Broadband Access Gap

The Utah Broadband Center and Access Act—enacted July 1, 2021—created the state's broadband office to 1) ensure that publicly funded broadband projects continue to be publicly accessible and provide a public benefit, 2) develop the statewide digital connectivity plan, and 3) administer the Broadband Access Grant Program.

$309 million in broadband grants headed for Montana Governor Gianforte’s approval

A Montana state commission advanced grant recommendations for a massive, $309 million rural broadband connectivity push, moving a previously delayed grantmaking process forward despite concerns voiced by Montana-based internet companies about the amount — approximately $110 million — slated for Charter Communications. The money fueling the program comes from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Your town may have high-speed internet. But does everyone in your community have access?

For the last decade in Western Massachusetts, closing the digital divide meant getting fiber, cable, or wireless service to every address.

Minnesota Again Taps Capital Projects Fund to Bridge Broadband Deployment Gap

Minnesota’s Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program is the state's financial tool to address the primary cause for the lack of broadband in unserved areas: high costs and lower population densities resulted in unsustainable business plans and thus broadband installations are not feasible.

Biden-Harris Administration Awards More Than $5.7 Million to West Virginia in ‘Internet for All’ Planning Grants

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that West Virginia received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative. West Virginia is receiving $5,728,065.00 in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to plan for the deployment and adoption of affordable, equitable, and reliable high-speed Internet service throughout the state.