C|Net
Bridging the Gap: Can $90 Billion in Broadband Funding Close the Digital Divide?
To connect more Americans, Congress designated a slice of the $1.2 trillion 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Infrastructure Act), as well as a portion of the $350 billion 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that passed to provide financial relief during the COVID pandemic, to fund projects that would cross this digital divide. All told, the bills provide around $90 billion in funding for connectivity spread across a plethora of initiatives. The question remains: Will this colossal sum be enough to bridge the digital divide?
Internet Aid Cut: How the Loss of FCC's ACP May Worsen the Mental Health Crisis
The looming end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), and the alarm it has triggered among dozens of experts I've talked to, reveals that this federal program is about much more than internet access.
As Broadband Access Lags, Cities Build Their Own Networks to Get Communities Online
In Fort Collins, Colorado, residents have a unique option when signing up for internet service. Instead of being limited to giant providers like Comcast, Charter or Cox, they can opt for a city-owned and operated service, called Connexion. Connexion's genesis took place about a decade ago, when the city was looking for ways to bring faster, more affordable internet to the community. In November 2017, voters approved a ballot measure to build a municipal fiber network.
The ACP Helps Millions Afford Internet. It Could Be Gone by Next Year
According to projections from the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, sometime around the middle of 2024, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) will run out of money.
Net Neutrality: What It Means for Your Everyday Internet Access and Streaming Speeds
One of the longest-running debates about internet access has entered a new phase, and the way it unfolds could directly affect everything you do online. You might remember the net neutrality debate from a decade ago.
Internet for the People: The Movement for Affordable, Community-Led Broadband
New York City (NYC) Mesh is not an internet service provider, but a grassroots, volunteer-run community network that aims to create an affordable, open and reliable network that's accessible to all New Yorkers for both daily and emergency internet use. To a layperson, the wireless mesh network—which relies on building-to-building line-of-sight connections—resembles the NYC subway: a circuitry of stations and routes where building nodes are the stations connecting to street level, and neighborhood hubs act as the tran