In the summer of 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will begin distributing hundreds of millions, and in some cases billions, of funding to states as part of the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Expectedly, states are busy creating and staffing broadband offices in anticipation of the BEAD and digital equity monies. Blinded by a nationwide broadband fever, however, some broadband leaders have proclaimed that states will entirely close, bridge, or eliminate the digital divide in the coming years. State broadband leaders should approach digital exclusion as a chronic condition that requires dynamic, flexible, long-term responses and planning. Six issues require long-term planning and should be addressed in every state’s NTIA-mandated five-year broadband and digital equity plan:

1. Remote Connectivity: State broadband leaders need to plan to serve the most remote of us, and this will mean looking beyond BEAD.
2. Operational Expenses: The BEAD program covers capital expenses for the deployment of broadband networks (preferably fiber optics). It does not cover operational expenses.
3. Affordability: While the FCC is encouraging eligible households to register for the Affordable Connectivity Program, the money will dry up sometime in 2024. States and Congress must ensure low-income families remain connected post-ACP.
4. Mapping: The FCC and states must address digital discrimination, and this can only be done with reliable maps.
5. Hardware: To realize digital equity, states need to ensure marginalized communities have access to more than just “good enough” technologies.
6. Literacy and Skills: When developing digital equity plans, state broadband leaders must think long-term to ensure their constituents have the training and confidence needed to take advantage of their newfound connectivity.

[Christopher Ali is Professor of Telecommunications in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State University.]

For many incarcerated people in the United States, exorbitant phone rates and fees make it consistently difficult to keep in touch with loved ones, lawyers, and others outside of prison. The Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022—signed by President Joe Biden on January 5, 2023—will ensure just and reasonable charges for telephone and advanced communications services in correctional and detention facilities across the country. The new law expands the Federal Communications Commission’s jurisdiction over different kinds of prison communications and the rates and fees associated with them. Here, we look at all that was done to make this law a reality and what it means for incarcerated people and their families.

The Federal Communications Commission approved several proposals for the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program to make it easier for healthcare providers to receive support, reduce delays in funding commitments, and improve the program's overall efficiency. Reliable high-speed connectivity is critical for rural healthcare providers to serve patients in rural areas that often have limited resources, fewer doctors, and higher rates for broadband and telecommunications services than urban areas. The Commission’s Rural Health Care Program expands access to telehealth and telemedicine services by providing financial support to eligible healthcare providers for high-speed broadband connections and telecommunications services. The FCC's actions will resolve petitions for reconsideration on issues from the August 2019 Promoting Telehealth Report and Order, and adopt proposals from the February 2022 Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted by the FCC seeks comment on a number of items related to telehealth access.