Considering this is the 20th anniversary of State of the Net, I think it’s worth noting one constant: we have had a digital divide that separates the connected haves from the connected have-nots in our country.  Another constant going back decades is a shared recognition that, unless and until we bridge that divide, we will not fulfill the promise of the Internet age for our economy and our society.  In 2024, that digital divide persists. But let me tell you what’s changed.  Like never before, closing America’s digital divide is within our reach.  And that’s not by accident.  It’s because the [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act] included historic investments to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to affordable, reliable connectivity.  That included the creation of the Affordable Connectivity Program—the largest broadband affordability effort in our nation’s history. The ACP is the most successful tool we’ve ever had to closing the digital divide, because it finally addresses the long-overlooked yet critical affordability piece of the puzzle.  The enrollment numbers for the program have been staggering and prove definitively that too many Americans have been missing out on the opportunities of the Internet Age because they couldn’t afford a home broadband connection.  We now have over 23 million households enrolled in ACP nationwide.  Think about that.  That means the ACP is impacting one in six U.S. households.  Of that 23 million, over 5 million had never been connected before.  Many more had what can only be described as precarious connectivity—connectivity that could be easily lost if the family had to make hard choices on tight budgets in any given month. But if the ACP does not receive funding, the program will run out of money in April.  Just like that, millions will lose access to the connectivity on which they rely for education, health care, their job, and more.  

Congress is “in disarray right now,” said Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association, in an address at NTCA’s annual RTIME conference in Tampa. Bloomfield urged NTCA’s members attending the conference to remind their elected officials that “It’s not about who’s winning and who’s losing; it’s about getting things done.” Bloomfield pointed to several open issues facing Congress that will impact rural providers and their communities. Among these were Universal Service Fund contribution reform, streamlining permitting challenges, the Farm Bill, the ReConnect program, the tax consequences of broadband programs, and the Affordable Connectivity Program, which will end soon if new funding is not available for it. Bloomfield shared a video of an interview that she did with Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. 

The county government in Livingston, Michigan, was very clear—it was not going to become an ISP.  Long committed to principles of lean government, elected officials were certain that although 56 percent of households in this region do not have access to fixed broadband, the ideal solution should not be government-owned infrastructure. County Chief Information Officer Kris Tobbe set out to develop an approach that could balance minimal government intervention with effective access to critical infrastructure for residents. The solution: the county directed $12.5 million in American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds to a middle-mile solution that brings fiber to within three miles of all residents. The county is now waiting to see whether last-mile providers will deliver the final piece of the puzzle: They're building it; will ISPs build off it?

[Dr. Pierrette Renee Dagg, Ph.D is a Benton Institute Digital Opportunity Fund Fellow, the Director of Technology Impact Research at Merit Network.]

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded $42 million in the final award from the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund’s first Notice of Funding Opportunity. Additional awards will come after NTIA issues the next Notice of Funding Opportunity. This award will fund the Acceleration of Compatibility and Commercialization for Open RAN Deployments (ACCoRD)—a project by a consortium of US carriers, foreign carriers, universities and equipment suppliers to establish a testing, evaluation and research and development center in the Dallas Technology Corridor and a satellite facility in the Washington, DC area. The center will focus testing on network performance, interoperability, security, and facilitate research into new testing methods. Testing and evaluation facilities will make industry-standard testing more accessible to new market players—both in the US and in partner nations—and encourage greater collaboration across different industries. 

A new sports streaming bundle from ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery is unlikely to cause Congress or the Federal Communications Commission to act independently, but the responses of those "hurt" by the agreement "may ultimately lead to a government reaction," New Street Research analyst Blair Levin said. He's skeptical that the new joint venture will be blocked on antitrust grounds. But the joint venture could still spur a government reaction "particularly to ensure that local sports remain available for free." The new service will be offered through a standalone app along with options to bundle it with Disney's Disney+ and Hulu streaming service and/or Max streaming service. The new service, which will effectively be a sports-focused virtual multichannel video programming distributor, will feature more than a dozen linear networks.

Just over a year has passed since AT&T and asset management firm BlackRock formed Gigapower, a joint venture (JV) that’s providing a wholesale open access fiber network to AT&T’s out-of-footprint territory. Gigapower announced plans to build in Albuquerque, New Mexico. CEO Bill Hogg said the JV is currently constructing networks in five states; Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Nevada and Pennsylvania. AT&T, which is serving as Gigapower’s anchor tenant, is offering service on the network in Arizona, Florida and Nevada. Hogg told Fierce Gigapower is still planning to reach 1.5 million initial passings over a three-year period but declined to share the JV’s current passings. Aside from Albuquerque, Gigapower has publicly announced markets in Arizona (Chandler, Gilbert and Mesa), Pennsylvania (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre) and Las Vegas, Nevada.