Category Archives: Digital Divide

85% of subscribers would lose service entirely without the Lifeline benefit

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The National Lifeline Association reports…

The National Lifeline Association (NaLA) is proud to release the results of our 2026 Annual Subscriber Survey. With over 83,000 responses across 20 detailed questions, this year’s data confirms a critical reality: for low-income Americans, the Lifeline program is not merely a discount—it is essential access infrastructure.

Why Lifeline Matters

As regulators and lawmakers evaluate the future of the Universal Service Fund, our survey data provides a clear picture of how Lifeline empowers households by bridging the digital divide.

Key Findings: How Subscribers Use Lifeline

Lifeline provides the connectivity necessary to improve life outcomes and access vital services:

  • Healthcare Access: 66% of subscribers use their service for telehealth appointments (phone/video) and to order medication.
  • Staying Connected: 81% rely on the service to maintain connections with family and friends.
  • Employment: 37% utilize the service for work-related activities, including working from home, applying for jobs, and managing shifts.
  • Education: 30% leverage the connection for educational purposes, such as online classes, training, and schoolwork for children.

The Reality of Affordability

Affordability remains the primary barrier to sustainable internet access.

  • 96% of subscribers report that they cannot afford any monthly service fee.
  • 85% of subscribers would lose service entirely without the Lifeline benefit, as they cannot pay the full, undiscounted price.
  • For those without home internet, the monthly bill is the most frequently cited barrier—outranking both availability and awareness.

A Mobility-First Requirement

With 91% of subscribers preferring mobile wireless service with hotspot capability over fixed broadband, it is clear that mobility is a functional requirement, not a preference, for this population.

The Path Forward

The current benefit level supports incremental use but falls short of providing the sustained connectivity needed for full, consistent access to telehealth, remote work, and coursework. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of subscribers report limiting their data use every month to avoid exhausting their allotment.

Connecting digital navigators with financial literacy skills helps build financial well-being

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Fed Communities reports...

Digital access, which is a household’s ability to fully participate in the modern economy through the use of digital technologies, is an important facet of community well-being. Digital access is essential to connecting families to broader socioeconomic opportunities, but it depends on four dimensions: the availability of providers, the speed and quality of internet service, the affordability of services, and the digital skills of the user. Research by the New York Fed has shown that rural populations, LMI communities, tribal communities, and aging populations are the least likely to live in a neighborhood with access to three or more providers offering speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps (download data at 100 megabits per second and upload data at 20 megabits per second).

Other research shows that the affordability of a broadband connection can be another barrier to internet access for LMI [Low- and moderate-income] households. LMI communities pay a notably higher share of their income for broadband and are more likely to use slower or lower-quality plans. In areas with the least affordable broadband, 26.7 percent of households rely solely on mobile devices. Although mobile access suffices for everyday banking and initial job searches, the lack of a computer and broadband restricts participation in resume building, online education, remote professional work, and long-term financial management.

The article goes on to talk about the need to connect digital navigators and financial technology and skills…

  1. Awareness: Many people working in digital inclusion don’t know about financial access tools and resources like Bank On certified accounts.
  2. Navigation capacity: Staff often aren’t trained to help with both digital and financial needs. Lockett said, “A digital navigator knows how to help someone set up an email account or apply for broadband subsidies. They may not know how to help that same person open a Bank On certified account, understand a credit report, or access mobile banking safely.”
  3. Supportive handoffs: When organizations refer people to each other, it is often a quick handoff without ongoing support. Lockett explained, “What’s needed is a trusted navigator model that maintains continuity throughout both the digital and financial access journey, rather than handing someone off and trusting things will work out.”

 

Is it AI or is it art? And how do we differentiate? The Walker is looking into it

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MPR News covers a story about art gallery patrons accusing art of being “AI slop” and The Walker figuring out what to do with that. It’s a teachable moment for everyone involved – with teachers and learners writing the curriculum in real time…

The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis is adding new explanatory language to an exhibition after visitors mistook an artist’s digitally rendered work for generative AI.

Joe Dobrow recently took his two children to the Walker. They wandered from exhibition to exhibition, eventually settling in front of a screen in a dark hallway.

The screen was looping the 2026 video “Field Recordings” by artist Olalekan Jeyifous. It is the first solo museum exhibition for the New York-based artist who is known for his immersive speculative world-building artworks. The video features realistically animated people in leafy riverine settings, sometimes in groups, sometimes with deer, sometimes tinkering with what seem like remnants of analog technology.

“My kids were fairly intrigued with it,” Dobrow said, but “it seemed to me to be almost entirely AI slop.”

Part of the solution…

The Walker, along with the rest of the museum world, is grappling with how to develop policy about the display and disclosure of AI-generated or AI-assisted art. “We are in the process of developing one,” she said.

Jasper and Huldisch said the new explanatory language for the exhibition will be installed this week.

“I recognize that AI usage raises very real ethical questions, and I understand why people want transparency around it,” Jeyifous said. “The difficulty right now is that we don’t have much nuance in the language to describe it. Saying that AI was utilized somewhere in a process can very quickly become perceived as ‘this artwork was entirely AI-generated,’ even when those are fundamentally different things. Disclosure can provide useful context, but it can also unintentionally become the lens through which the entire work is understood, regardless of how marginal that tool was to its production.”

RESEARCH: To what extent does community-level broadband connectivity reduce the time individuals spend waiting for goods and services?

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There is an interesting scholarly article (Time poverty, waiting, and broadband adoption: Evidence from the US by gender and income) on the impact of broadband access on people’s discretionary time. In a nod to time-saving, I tried to think of the most efficient way to share the information and focus on broadband access while flagging other related topics in the article.

Here’s the promise of the research, in bullet points…

  • Time poverty, or the lack of time to invest in discretionary activities aimed at maintaining one’s physical or mental well-being, has long been a human concern (Kalenkoski & Hamrick, 2013; Vickery, 1977).
  • We examine waiting time because, differently from time devoted to other activities, which may reflect personal preferences, waiting time is almost universally disliked and has no intrinsic benefit (Holt & Vinopal, 2023; Schwartz, 1974).
  • Through this lens, high-speed broadband connections constitute a critical first step in efforts to expand communities’ access to goods and services, minimize waiting, and free up time for more fulfilling activities (Turner & Grieco, 2000).
  • Our analysis finds a significant association between living in counties with higher broadband adoption levels and reduced time spent waiting for goods and services. The effect is particularly pronounced among women, who are disproportionately responsible for time-intensive, unpaid household labor (Brenan, 2020). Yet, we also suggest that complementary policy interventions may be necessary to mitigate time disparities across socio-economic lines.

And a look at ROI (when return in time) from a government/citizen perspective…

Addressing waiting-based inefficiencies calls for targeted solutions, and broadband and digital technologies offer one. To this extent, tax return–free filing programs that integrate administrative data could save Americans an estimated 225 million hours annually, while online voter registration cuts administrative burdens and boosts turnout by reducing long heavy processes (Goolsbee, 2006; Herd & Moynihan, 2018). Similarly, remote work saves the average person 72 min of commuting each day, allowing individuals to reallocate time to leisure and caregiving (Aksoy et al., 2023).

Yet, these time-saving gains hinge on both the provision of digital services online and citizens being able to take advantage of those through reliable internet connections (Mossberger et al., 2022). Consequently, broadband operates as the foundational infrastructure enabling both the delivery and use of digital services. In other words, lacking broadband, citizens, businesses, and governments cannot effectively use online services while digital service provision becomes impractical.

Recognizing this, federal and state policymakers in the United States have invested significantly in digital infrastructure – most notably through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the American Rescue Plan Act – to extend broadband to every household. These place-based strategies reflect a growing understanding that broadband is not just a technological solution, but a foundational element of equitable service delivery and local development. As such, we argue that, similarly to other place-based characteristics, broadband adoption can shape individual outcomes through institutions, resources, and community dynamics (Chyn & Katz, 2021)

And their hypotheses:

  • As broadband subscriptions increase within a county, the amount of time residents spend waiting for goods and services decreases.
  • The negative relationship between county-level broadband adoption and waiting times is stronger among women than among men.
  • The negative relationship between county-level broadband adoption and waiting times is stronger among low-income individuals than among higher-income individuals.
  • The negative relationship between county-level broadband adoption and waiting times is strongest among low-income women.

Understanding the privacy and security implications of interacting with AI

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Axios has a series that I think is helpful to share with folks around you to help them recognize and understand various features of AI. You can bring it up at your next family picnic or share with friends and family as a reminder about the importance of online privacy…

Imagine a chatbot built to keep you talking a little longer. To change your mind about something. Or persuade you to buy something.

  • Now imagine it could draw on everything it knows about you — including the fears, insecurities and private details you shared in conversation — to do it.

Why it matters: Few rules directly govern that scenario today, making AI companies’ promises about how they use consumer data especially consequential.

The big picture: In the first installment of Axios’ “What they know about you” series, published in 2019, we examined the information major tech companies collected about their users. In 2024, we followed up with a look at what consumer data AI companies use to train their systems.

  • This new series revisits those questions — and widens the lens. We’ll examine not only whether a company uses consumer data to train future AI models, but also how it can use that data now: to personalize responses, retain a memory, recommend content or target advertising.

Minnesota teen speaks about experience creating a national artificial intelligence policy

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MPR interviewed a student who was part of a national group creating a national artificial intelligence policy. It is a great look at what’s happening with AI and the views of schools and youth on using AI. It’s a reminder of the importance of digital literacy. Here’s a description of the interview, you can listen to it online…

This upcoming school year, districts across the country have a new tool they can use: A national artificial intelligence policy. It was created in July by 98 teens, representing all 50 states.

They gathered in Boston for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Day of AI, created a mock senate and drafted and passed their own legislation that helps schools navigate artificial intelligence. Representing Minnesota were students and staff from St. Cloud.

St. Cloud Tech High School student Bihmanji Acho and Principal Molly Kensy joined Minnesota Now to share more about the experience.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

EVENT Sepr 16, 2026: AI Skills Jam for Older Adults: Twin Cities, MN

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Apparently, there’s a one-day event happening in 10 cities across the country on September 16. (Including the Twin Cies.) Senior Planet and OpenAI Academy are teaming up to put on an: AI Skills Jams for Older Adults, to offer hands-on events designed to help older adults learn how to use ChatGPT confidently, safely, and practically. 

Here’s more info on the session in the Twin Cities…

Please join us on September 16th for a free, in-person learning experience designed to help older adults use ChatGPT confidently, safely, and practically. This workshop is hosted by OpenAI Academy in collaboration with Senior Planet from AARP and Senior Community Services.

  1. Date: September 16
  2. Time: 9:00am – 12:00pm CT (optional Q&A and practice time until 1:00pm)
  3. Location: The Heritage Center of Brooklyn Center

What is the AI Skills Jam for Older Adults?

The AI Skills Jam for Older Adults is a nationwide, hands-on workshop that helps older adults move from curiosity to practical use. Attendees will be guided through instructions, explore everyday use cases, build skills with support from mentors, and leave with resources for continued learning.

Why attend?

  1. Free stuff! Attendance to the Jam is free. We’ll provide breakfast, OpenAI swag, 12 months free of ChatGPT Plus, and we’ll send you home with a tasty sweet treat.
  2. Hands-on practice: Join us to learn how to use ChatGPT and get hands-on practice in a safe learning environment.
  3. Beginners welcome: No coding or technical background required. Participants will get a guided introduction to ChatGPT.
  4. Learn from mentors and peers: Get support from trained OpenAI facilitators and mentors, and learn alongside peers in your community.

How to Register:

Registration takes ~5 minutes: Please click the blue “Register” button on the right to complete the form. Need help? Call the Senior Planet from AARP hotline at 888-713-3495 (MON-FRI 9am-8pm / SAT 9am-2pm ET) to register by phone, or reach out to us via email at jam@openai.com.

We can’t wait to learn and jam with you!

Register!

 

Doug Dawson on reasons to support Public WiFi

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Doug Dawson reports on the POTS and PANS blog…

One of the most interesting positive things that came out of the COVID pandemic was that communities and organizations across the country deployed public WiFi hotspots. This was done at the time to support students and workers who were expected to find a way to work remotely. And this worked well in a lot of places, and I’ve talked to communities who said the public flocked to the free WiFi during the pandemic.

There was another benefit of the free hot spots – they created places where people who couldn’t afford broadband suddenly had a place to access the Internet. This number of people varies by community, but the nationwide numbers suggest that around 14% of homes don’t have a home broadband solution, and as many as 80% of those folks say they would buy a home broadband solution if they could afford it.

As I wrote about in a recent blog, the number of homes without broadband is unfortunately growing due to affordability issues related to the other increasing costs of daily life like rent, food, health care, and transportation. An increasing number of homes are finding it harder to maintain their broadband connection. Several ISPs have told me about a growing number of broadband customers that regularly disconnect and then reconnect broadband during the year depending on their ability to pay the bill.

The post goes on to talk about aspects of providing public WiFi to the community.

Event Aug 19: #Building for Digital Equity MLK “Dream” Speech Edition

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From NDIA (National Digital Inclusion Alliance) and Institute for Local Self Reliance…

On Wednesday, August 19, just eight days before the anniversary of King’s speech, the on-going webinar series returns to pose a pointed question to the digital inclusion community: what is our dream for digital equity — and what kind of ecosystems do we need to, at last, build a “Beloved (connected) Community?”

 

Co-hosted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance Community Broadband Networks Initiative and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), the live-streamed webinar — “Normalcy, Never Again” — takes its name from the spirit of King’s August 28, 1963 address and will serve as a rallying point to reaffirm that the digital equity movement will not accept business as usual or be managed into irrelevance.

Sponsored once again by UTOPIA Fiber, the B4DE livestream is slated for August 19th at 3 p.m. ET and will bring together national policy experts, local leaders, and community advocates working in the trenches of digital inclusion. 

Registration is now open above

The livestream will be available (and later archived) onFacebook,YouTube, andLinkedIn with live viewer questions answered by the invited speakers and presenters, which is still being finalized. We will also be live posting from the Community Broadband NetworksBluesky page.

Register online.

“AI relies on access to broadband connectivity” and that’s an issue in remote areas

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The following video doesn’t come from Minnesota. It is from the Indigenous Artificial Intelligence Gathering at the Mila Institute in Montreal, and they are talking about broadband being the barrier to accessing AI in Nunavut and other remote areas. I thought it might speak to some readers, who are experiencing the lack of broadband.

Doug Dawson looks at predicted drops in broadband subscriptions

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Doug Dawson from CCG Consulting writes…

A year ago, John Horrigan wrote an article for the Benton Foundation that predicted that as many as 5.6 million households would drop their home broadband connection due to the impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill. He based that assessment on the changes that the OBBB will make to federal programs that benefit low-income families.

He writes about household circumstance changes since that prediction that might impact the outcome and ends by talking about the broadband industry aspect of it…

Horrigan’s prediction may not fully come to pass because there is a middle-ground to abandoning broadband. Earlier this year, I worked with two ISPs that serve areas that are primarily low-income. Both ISPs told me that they are experiencing a big increase in a new kind of churn – customers that temporarily drop broadband because they can’t afford it, but who then resubscribe a few months later when they’ve scraped together enough money to buy broadband again.

The other thing that a cost squeeze does is to drive homes to look for broadband alternatives. I think that people in this category are the ones dropping cable companies and going to FWA broadband and other less expensive options. Unfortunately for families in this position, lower monthly rates typically mean slower speeds and less reliable broadband performance. A lot of low-income families have stayed with DSL for years because it was the least costly option in cities. However, in recent years, the big telcos have increased the cost of DSL to be the same price as fiber to get people off the copper network – but these higher prices are often too high for too many homes with low incomes.

There is a nationwide consensus that we are all better off when most families have broadband and can partake in the many benefits broadband brings to a household. If we don’t somehow change the current path we are on, I think Horrigan’s estimate of 5.6 million households that drop broadband will be far too low.

Office of Broadband Development Update July 29 2026: East Central Energy (ECE)

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From the Office of Broadband Development…

Broadband Matters: Office of Broadband Development Updates

  • Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) updates
  • Upcoming Tribal broadband summit + federal funding opportunities
  • Digital opportunity, community update
  • Line Extension Connection Program, registration open for residents and businesses

Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) updates

Minnesota is excited to announce its very first fiber project for BEAD has an executed contract and approved National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) decision memo. This East Central Energy (ECE) Fiber project in East Central Minnesota is expected to serve 3,750 locations:

“Bringing broadband to unserved and underserved communities takes true partnership. We extend our sincere thanks to the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development and DEED for their collaborative approach, responsiveness, and shared commitment to connecting rural Minnesota. Their assistance in helping us finalize and execute our BEAD application was invaluable.” Ty Houglum, Vice President/Chief Information Officer, ECE 

Minnesota BEAD Map with ECE Central Minnesota project.

OBD is continuing to work through required project scope changes and preparing contracts for execution. These scope changes often include removing locations newly identified as already served or re‑awarding locations when providers decline an award. Updated information and resources can be found on the OBD BEAD webpage.

Because the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) must approve these project scope changes, the review process can take several weeks. OBD will continue coordinating closely with partners to keep projects moving and to meet the federal contracting deadline of October 8, 2026.

Providers and community members can contact OBD (DEED.broadband@state.mn.us) with questions.

Upcoming Tribal broadband summit + federal funding opportunities

Early bird registration is open for the 2026 NTTA Tribal Broadband Regional Southern Plains Summit, September 21-23 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The summit will look to advance broadband connectivity and digital sovereignty throughout Indian Country and cover topics like data sovereignty, AI & emerging technology, broadband equity & infrastructure, and cultural continuity. More information and registration is available online.

Additionally, NTIA Announced Two New Funding Opportunities to Expand Broadband Connectivity on Tribal Lands. Applications are due September 17, 2026. More information is available on NTIA’s BroadbandUSA webpage including:

Digital opportunity, community update

OBD is actively monitoring developments given the recent federal court ruling impacting the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program. At this time, our office has not received updated guidance from NTIA regarding whether Digital Equity funds or related grants may be reinstated.

We understand how important this is to Minnesota. As new information becomes available, OBD will relay updates through this newsletter and on the OBD Digital Opportunity webpage.

As we navigate these ongoing developments together, please feel free to reach out to our office with questions at DEED.broadband@state.mn.us or by phone at 651-259-7610.

Line Extension Connection Program, registration open for residents and businesses

Registration remains open for residents and businesses for future rounds of the Line Extension Connection Program.

For assistance completing the application or to request a paper form to complete, please call 651-259-7610 or email DEED.broadband@state.mn.us.

More information and registration are available on the Line Extension Connection Program webpage.

Minnesota ranks 18 for average cost of broadband (highest cost being number 1)

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BroadbandNow has released the results of a recent survey on broadband pricing and today’s budgets. The good news is that most households have not seen a recent price increase. The bad news is that nearly a quarter of those surveyed say the bill stresses their budgets. It’s worth nothing that the survey included 954 adults, but the results are interesting. Here are the highlights:

  • The national average monthly cost for a home internet plan is $81.16. Prices range from $65.43 in New Jersey to $109.88 in Alaska.
  • Though most households have not experienced recent internet service price hikes, nearly 1 in 4 Americans (23%) say internet bills stress their household budgets.
  • 1 in 5 Americans (19%) worry about paying their internet bill each month; that number spikes to 41% among former ACP recipients.
  • Women are nearly twice as likely as men to worry about affording internet service (24% vs. 14%).
  • 1 in 5 households (19%) say their current internet plan doesn’t meet their needs, rising to 28% among former ACP households.

Minnesota ranks 18 for average cost of broadband.

And while I’m looking at BroadbandNow, here’s what they say about Minnesota. (You can learn more about them; their stated goal is to help people compare broadband providers.)

U of M Extension creates AI video to spoof cover crop research

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Back when I did more training on how to assess information on the Internet, I would often use an example from a Minnesota university that was a website that featured a mythical town outside of Mankato where, due to geological anomalies, the weather never went below 70 degrees. It got a lot of attention in 1996 as a great example of “not everything you read online it true.” So, I was tickled to see that University of Minnesota Extension has taken up a similar project in the new era of AI. Ag Week reports…

A YouTube video titled “Scientists Tested 41 Cover Crop Mixes for 6 Years” claims a University of Minnesota research team ran a six-season trial and found one three-species cover crop mix that outperformed every other combination by 210%. The 49-minute video, posted May 6 by a channel called Soil & Centuries, says the team tracked nitrogen transfer rates, mycorrhizal network density and weed suppression across hundreds of thousands of data points.

None of it happened. The study does not exist.

University of Minnesota Extension educators said the video is artificial intelligence “slop” — fabricated content built to draw clicks and advertising revenue. They have reported it, and commented on it, but it’s still up. As of mid-July, the video had more than 36,000 views. It had roughly 11,000 when Extension educators first learned of it.

Here’s the video:

Benton explains the recent ruling of the Digital Equity Act’s race provision as both unconstitutional and severable

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The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society reports…

On July 15, 2026, Judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a decision that could revive a federal grant program the President declared dead more than a year ago. In National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) v. Trump (Civil Action No. 25-3606), the court held that the Digital Equity Act of 2021 contains an unconstitutional racial classification, but that this single flaw does not doom the law. The court concluded that the relevant provision, which directs consideration of “individuals who are members of a racial or ethnic minority group” in awarding grants, can be ignored without impairing the operation of the rest of the statute (in legal parlance, “severed”). Thus, NDIA’s claim to otherwise restore the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program survives, minus any consideration of the race or ethnicity of the people the grant projects serve.

Most importantly for the cities, nonprofits, and digital inclusion practitioners who applied for—and in some cases won—Competitive Grant Program funds: the court relied upon the government’s submission that it would “now commit[] to restoring the Competitive Grant Program upon receiving this judicial determination.”

This is a ruling on the government’s motion to dismiss the entire case, not a final judgment. The court has not ordered the program restored; it has held that the remaining aspects of NDIA’s challenge may go forward. However, the resolution of the constitutional question essentially addresses the government’s stated reason for ending the program.

The article goes on with some history and greater details into the court’s decision; it also shares a practical summary…

A Win, a Loss, or Both?

How you read this ruling may depend on where you sit. For digital equity advocates, the bottom line is real: a federal court rejected the argument that a single constitutional flaw justified scrapping the Competitive Grant Program, and the government has told the court it will restore the program now that a judge has resolved its only stated objection.

But the government may have won something larger than it lost. A federal court has now held that a provision of the Digital Equity Act is unconstitutional—adopting the Administration’s reading of Students for Fair Admissions and finding that Congress supplied no justification that could survive strict scrutiny. The court also accepted that the Executive Branch may decline to enforce a statute it deems unconstitutional while awaiting judicial review. And the government’s commitment to restore the program is a statement in a legal brief, not a court order; the court has not yet granted any relief, and it noted that once the program is reinstated, some or all of NDIA’s claims may become moot. That means the shape of the restored program—its guidelines, its treatment of the seven remaining covered populations, its timeline—will be decided, at least initially, by the same Administration that ended it.

The Digital Equity Act survives. What it looks like in practice is now an open question—one that will be answered as much by NTIA’s next moves as by anything a court has said.