"Building broadband infrastructure is only one part of closing the digital divide; ensuring people subscribe to the service is the other. That’s why Congress created the Digital Equity Act at the same time it invested $42 billion into broadband infrastructure buildout through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. Addressing non-infrastructural barriers—like the cost of a subscription, availability of connected devices and the inability to safely navigate online services—is necessary to ensure people can actually get online with the networks that are built. In fact, lack of internet adoption is a more significant cause of the digital divide than lack of physical infrastructure. This is the problem that the DEA was meant to address by funding digital literacy instruction, affordable device programs, technical support and community-based digital navigators to help people get and stay online." – Jessica Dine, Policy Analyst at New America’s Open Technology Institute and Wireless Future Read more via TechPolicy.Press (fb)

ICYMI: Last week, The president called for an immediate end to the Digital Equity Act (DEA) in a post on Truth Social. Since then, the DEA webpage has been removed from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration website and grant recipients were notified that funding has been terminated. These actions has generated significant pushback from the bipartisan initiative’s advocates. Read more from the Government Technology News article: (fb)