This report is the third in a series about the digital divide for students and teachers. It aims to provide a more granular understanding of the digital divide for students amid distance learning and the pandemic and offers a set of policy recommendations at the federal, state, and local levels to permanently close the digital divide.

An article that outlines the results of a study of terrestrial broadband internet availability in the United States, estimating that at least 42 million Americans do not have access to broadband, 6.5 percent more than the FCC’s estimate. BroadbandNow gives state-by-state figures for over-reporting and unserved Americans and offers suggestions for how the FCC can improve its data collection and mapping practices.

This blog details examples of limited broadband competition and its impact on pricing for customers. People with only one or two broadband providers have no choice but to pay high monopoly or duopoly prices. Local communities should have the freedom to help their people fully participate in a broadband world, which cannot be accomplished with the lack of competition.

A study, from May 2019, that discusses three key elements of broadband policy success—availability, adoption, and application—as well as statewide priorities such as broadband planning and mapping, and material broadband enhancements to rural hospitals. The plan focuses on rural Alabama and makes a case for why broadband is necessary.