Reporting

Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN) and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) called for bridging the digital divide to help stimulate employment and workplace equity. They both pushed for congressional passage of infrastructure packages that would increase broadband access to rural and urban areas across the country. Data maps inaccurately portray parts of the U.S. as having broadband access, making it difficult for lawmakers to know which areas need more attention, said Rep Brooks. Rep Blunt Rochester noted there is bipartisan support for infrastructure legislation that would eliminate disparities.

For people who spend a lot of time on TikTok, the last few months have been surreal: a president with no presence on the platform has been agitating to ban it on the basis of national security.

By unanimous vote, the Henry County Commission entered into a partnership with the West Kentucky & Tennessee Telecommunications Cooperative with a goal to provide the opportunity for broadband services for every household in Henry County. “Broadband is extremely necessary for our underserved areas,” County Mayor Brent Greer said. “Within a short period of time, we’ve put a lot of things together because of the importance of this.” Mayor Greer noted the work on providing broadband to Henry County actually started 18 months ago with much the same goals as there are now.

The city of Dayton is searching for a vendor to help bring high-speed internet to some high-poverty areas in the northwestern part of the city using federal coronavirus relief money. The city has issued a notice of funding opportunities that says it has $1.4 million in federal CARES Act dollars available to expand broadband access to multiple neighborhoods, including Philadelphia Woods, Fairview, Hillcrest, Dayton View, Mount Vernon, and Santa Clara. About 952 households in those neighborhoods do not have internet access, or nearly a quarter of the total (22.8%), according to Census data. T

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai says he believes there will be enough companies to bid on broadband work in West Virginia at the end of Oct to bring new service to un-served areas. “I think these companies have a very strong interest in deploying very quickly and if we give them the money, we give them the tools, they will connect West Virginians as soon as they possibly can,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said. A FCC-sponsored reverse auction is scheduled to start Oct. 29 in connection with the agency’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF).

The Department of Justice’s impending lawsuit against Google has narrowed to focus on the company’s power over internet search, a decision that could set off a cascade of separate lawsuits from states in ensuing weeks over the Silicon Valley giant’s dominance in other business segments.

Ever since Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA) was first elected to the House in 2006, he has sought to ensure that Iowans and other rural Americans can access the internet. But Rep Loebsack, who is set to retire at the end of the 116th Congress, remains frustrated that the federal government still lacks accurate data showing where Americans can get a signal — and where they can’t. How to best go about correcting federal broadband maps is disputed.

Apjit Walia, the global head of technology strategy at Deutsche Bank, has a free market suggestion for ending the digital divide: Big technology companies should pay for millions of lower-income Americans to get what they need to go online. And not out of the goodness of their heart. In Walia’s view, it would be a smart business decision to reach new customers and repair Big Tech’s reputation.

The city of McAllen (TX) is tapping unlicensed Citizen Band Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum to provide backhaul for a citywide Wi-Fi hotspot deployment aimed at enabling students in the city to gain internet connectivity to support distance learning during COVID-19. A large percentage of students are low income and do not have high-speed broadband at home. Many of the costs of constructing the network were covered through a CARES Act grant.

Montgomery County (MD) offers its low-income and special needs citizens Internet access via a 600-linear-mile fiber route as part of its Digital Equity program. In a new pilot project, the county will add onsite Wi-Fi—by way of Plume superpods—to its existing basic Internet access. Joe Webster, Montgomery County's Chief Broadband Officer, said that although the county has been providing free or low-cost Internet service to residents in need for some time, significant challenges remain beyond the demarc.