Digital Divide

The South Carolina Broadband Office (SCBBO) is pleased to announce 17 newly funded projects through its American Rescue Plan Act’s Capital Projects Fund (CPF 1.0) grant program. For this round of investments, the SCBBO committed $112,303,273 to eight Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that will connect over 16,000 locations statewide. The total investment for this round of broadband expansion, which includes ISP contribution, is estimated to be $162,141,901.

Growth, equity, education, workforce opportunities, access to government services, and sustainability. Each of these values—and many of the actions that can be taken to achieve them—can be enhanced by equitable access to high-speed internet, and a population equipped with the digital skills to productively use computers and the internet.

Full-fibre broadband is now available at more than half of UK residential premises (57%), sharply up from 42% in 2022. Gigabit-capable broadband coverage levels now exceed three-quarters (78%) of UK residential premises, up from 70% in 2022. Ofcom saw 1.7 million new full-fibre consumer connections in the year to May 2023, out of a total of 4.6 million full-fibre connections. This means that just over a third of all full-fibre connections have been taken up in the twelve months to May 2023.

For more than 25 years, I’ve been in prison, where TV is a staple of prison life as essential as staff and more immutable than any rehabilitative program. Cell-block televisions are equal parts library, time machine, and mecca, instructing the incarcerated in the ways of the world they aspire to return to. Traditionally, most prisons have a communal TV, though some also sell personal TV sets.

Google is on the long list of things I took for granted prior to prison. Before I was incarcerated in 2014, I used Google often, relying on the search engine to satisfy my random curiosities. When that access was suddenly cut off, I began depending on others to answer my burning questions. Prison is isolating by design, and even things like obituaries are cruelly out of reach. Prisoners' Google requests reflect the whole spectrum of ups and downs you live through in prison.

There’s a lot of optimism in the broadband industry, driven by new opportunities in rural broadband, technology advances and more. In no particular order, here are 11 important developments that we saw this year.

Wyoming has recommended funding 32 applications totaling $70.5 million in federal funds to expand broadband to more than 11,000 locations across the state that do not currently have access to high-speed internet. Governor Gordon designated $70 million of American Rescue Plan Act/Capital Projects funding for broadband infrastructure improvements across the state to ensure Wyomingites have the ability to telework, learn from home, and access telemedicine. The Wyoming Business Council Broadband Office is the administrator of the funds.

A Top 10 list of elements that are novel or different in Louisiana's BEAD plan compared to what has been proposed in other state draft plans: 

Earlier this month, we released an updated version of the Affordable Connectivity Program Enrollment Performance Tool, with data current through October 2023, the most recent dataset the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) has posted on ACP enrollment. The downloadable USAC dataset shows that 21.6 million households had enrolled in the program through October 2023.

In October, the Federal Reserve Banks of Dallas, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Kansas City convened the first-ever Digital Inclusion Research Forum (DIRF), bringing together researchers and practitioners to highlight the latest in digital inclusion research, emerging methodologies, and best practices in the sector. In order to access the broadband funding made available by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), all states have to develop plans for how they will use these funds to build broadband networks and achieve digital equity.