State

New state data shows 2.5 percent of New York households lack the ability to hook up to the Internet. More than 132,000 households lack the ability to access broadband in New York. The town of Red House in Cattaraugus County is completely unserved. Twenty-nine towns, six school districts and four of the 10 tribal territories in the state have less than half of their residences with access to broadband. Internet providers warn that government broadband grants may not be able to cover the costs of building the services in locations where there may be fewer than five homes per square mile.

Now that the federal government included billions of tax dollars in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to improve internet access to more areas, the task of broadband mapping in Illinois is underway.

On Monday, September 26, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Director of Research and Fellowships Dr. Revati Prasad hosted an online panel discussion, From the Ground Up: Broadband Mapping By and for Communities, on how communities and states are collecting data on local broadband availability as the Federal Communications Commission rolls out the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) program.

California's unprecedented new law to bolster protections for abortion-related personal information held by tech companies marks a new phase in the deepening legal fight between red and blue states over digital regulations. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed into law an abortion rights bill with a provision that protects reproductive digital information housed by companies headquartered or incorporated in the state.

Governor Kay Ivey (R-AL) awarded an $82.45 million grant to help make statewide broadband service availability a more attainable goal throughout Alabama.

The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development is awarding $446,770,282 in grants for the expansion of internet access across Tennessee. Nearly $50 million more will be directed to broadband adoption and digital literacy efforts. More than 150,000 unserved homes and businesses in 58 counties receiving broadband access. Priority was given to applicants with the lowest internet speeds, though all “unserved” areas (where only services with speeds below 100 Mbps download speed and 20 Mbps upload) were considered for the grant.

States have begun to produce their own mapping data for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant allocation.

Thirteen Republican Senators sent a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) asking the agency to change its approach to administering some of the provisions of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grants. The letter specifically asked for changes related to rate regulation, technology preference, provider preference, workforce requirements, middle mile deployments, and the application review process (You can read the letter here). It’s

Gov Roy Cooper (D-NC) is launching North Carolina's first digital equity grant program, which will help North Carolinians afford high-speed internet, obtain digital devices, and access digital literacy resources. The multi-phased program, administered by the NC Department of Information Technology’s Office of Digital Equity and Literacy, will invest up to $24 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for collaborative digital equity projects. The program’s first phase will invest $10 million in total funding to support 10-15 state government entities to develop or expand digi

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will host a workshop in Gillette, WY, on the $48 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding to give everyone in the country internet access. The idea is to give local governments money to expand broadband services in so-called “digital deserts” where high-speed, reliable internet isn’t available. The funding comes from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The workshop is meant to give Wyoming leaders a heads-up on how to prepare for the funding.