Adoption

The subject of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)—the $60 million State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program—is part of the Digital Equity Act’s larger State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, the purpose of which is to promote the achievement of digital equity, support digital inclusion activities, and build capacity for efforts by States relating to the adoption of broadband by residents of those States.

The State of Wyoming is preparing for a deluge of federal money from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The bill will send $1.2 trillion out to more than 375 federal programs, Gov Mark Gordon (R-WY)’s senior advisor Rob Creager said. Forty percent of that money will be distributed via competitive grants, Creager said.

Low-income Americans are discerning broadband consumers who are well-attuned to the nuances of service plans, in the midst of dealing with internet service bills that are often a burden on their household budgets. The indispensability of internet access—a need the pandemic has underscored—places service quality next to affordability in the minds of low-income consumers.

The Biden-Harris Administration is launching the Internet for All initiative, which will invest $45 billion to provide affordable, reliable, high-speed internet for everyone in America by the end of the decade.

The two public private partnerships that AT&T has announced in Indiana, including one expected with the City of Boonville (IN), could be the first of many, said Jeff Luong, AT&T president for broadband access and adoption initiatives. “We’re having discussions with communities across the country,” said Luong.

On January 7, 2022, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration requested public comment on a wide range of policy and program considerations associated with the new high-speed internet grant programs authorized and funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). NTIA received 557 thoughtful and informative written responses from state and local governments, non-profit and community-based organizations, schools, internet service providers, industry associations and individuals.

TPRC and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Soci

Digital food access could be a game-changer for people who struggle with brick-and-mortar food access barriers, including those living in disinvested areas historically defined as “food deserts” and individuals facing mobility challenges or time constraints.

Experts from the US Department of Commerce's Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) partnered with the Spectrum Management Authority and other technology agencies within the Government of Jamaica to expand and expedite broadband internet service to underserved communities in the country.

Installing fiber-optic internet in sparsely populated places like western Kansas is extremely expensive, even with government subsidies. But some smaller, local broadband providers are finding ways to make it work where the big national companies have not. Federal and state governments have poured billions into trying to bring more bandwidth to the remote corners of the country. But for many people in rural places, it hasn’t made any difference. An estimated 42 million Americans still don’t have high-speed internet, or what most people today simply think of as internet.