State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program

I am the Secretary of Commerce. And my job is to make sure that America can compete that our businesses and our companies can compete effectively in the world, including our small businesses, our family farms, and Americans, American workers. And I have to tell you, you cannot compete if you don't have the Internet. I just talked to a third-generation family farmer here in Wisconsin who struggles because the Internet is expensive and doesn't have high quality, and you all know it. You all have friends and family who don't have it.

Researchers at the Humana Foundation and AARP’s Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) found that nearly half of older Americans live with technological barriers. And nearly 22 million American seniors do not have wireline broadband access at home. There are poignant correlations between digital disengagement and race, disability, health status, educational attainment, immigration status, rural residence, and, of course, income.

The Ocean State has long supported expanding broadband access, adoption and application for its residents. Capitalizing on funding from the COVID-19 pandemic, Rhode Island established programs to keep kids in school, enable aging residents to take advantage of online resources, and bolster state opportunities in tech. “During the pandemic, households had increased reliance on broadband connections as access became essential for employment, education and daily activities,” said Governor Dan McKee (D-RI).

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Digital Equity Act recognizes eight “covered populations” as disproportionately experiencing digital inequity. One group is individuals living in households with incomes at or below 150 percent of the poverty line.  In the United States, people living in poverty tend to be clustered in certain regions, counties, and neighborhoods rather than evenly spread across the nation. Research has shown that living in areas where poverty is prevalent creates impediments beyond people’s individual circumstances.

The Wyoming Broadband Office (WBO), part of the Wyoming Business Council, made its draft Digital Access Plan available to the public on July 18, 2023, and is allowing one month for residents to submit their feedback. The draft plan includes a vision for digital equity for the state, a set of goals to activate that vision within Wyoming’s Digital Access program, current assets and barriers, and an implementation plan to achieve the goals and address the barriers identified.

Your state is doing something it has never done before: not just making a plan to achieve digital equity, but thinking about how life in the state will be transformed by closing the digital divide.

Digital equity—or, digital opportunity, if you prefer—is having a moment. The US is making an unprecedented investment to ensure that individuals and communities have the capacity to fully participate in our society and economy. This is a huge undertaking with momentous implications on the future of the Nation. Each state has been asked to envision how life there can be transformed by achieving digital equity.

Even before he took office Governor Phil Murphy (D-NJ) realized that access to high-speed internet is now a prerequisite for participation in our increasingly connected economy. One of the Murphy administration's first priorities was to create a middle-mile, fiber-optic cable network to connect New Jersey’s rural and urban communities to high-speed internet. In New Jersey, as elsewhere, the COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on technology and connectivity gaps.

Free Apartment Wi-Fi networks are the most cost-effective strategy for states to close the digital divide. Twenty to twenty-five percent of the digital divide is concentrated in affordable multi-dwelling units (MDU). By allocating less than 18% of their Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funds to deploy hotel-style Wi-Fi networks in these buildings, states can quickly and cost effectively impact the digital divide for millions of unconnected households.

President Joe Biden (D) announced a milestone in the Internet for All funding from our $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment—or BEAD—program. Florida will receive over $1.1 billion to bring high-speed Internet service to every home and business within its borders. However, it is not enough to simply deploy Internet infrastructure. A connection to a family’s home doesn’t help if that family can’t afford Internet service.