Category Archive: Digital Divide
One Year Later, Rural Broadband Programs Still Not Serving the Unserved
By Jason Llorenz
Last year, I wrote about the need for Congress to reform a decade-old program that has failed in its mission of bridging the Digital Divide in rural America:
A case in point is the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utility Service, whose Farm Bill-funded Broadband Loan program has come under fire for failing its core mission. This program is supposed to provide loans, over $300 million authorized this year alone, to build out broadband service in under-served and rural areas. But advocates and analysts say the loans have been misdirected to non-rural areas that already have a broadband provider – as illustrated by a report from the Department’s Inspector General.
Connect to Compete: Bridging the Divide
By: Jason A. Llorenz, Esq.
December 19, 2011
The digital divide is as real today as it was when it was coined over a decade ago. The divide, as HTTP regularly underscores, includes both a lag in access to digital tools, and a dearth in the digital skills needed to compete in the evolving, global economy. We at the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP) applaud the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), and providers like Time Warner Cable (TWC) for their support of Connect to Compete. The program will enable families with a child in the National School Lunch Program to have access to affordable broadband.
The Supercommittee Failed…but There is Hope in the Airwaves
BY: Jason Llorenz, Esq.
The failure of the so-called Congressional “super committee” had left an important piece of the telecommunications policy agenda in limbo. The initiation of spectrum reallocation to address the looming spectrum crunch was reverted back to the Congressional committees with jurisdiction.
The Latino Digitial Divide: a Presentation for #LATISM ‘11
BY: JASON A. LLORENZ, ESQ.
This week, I will be leading a panel in Chicago for LATISM – an online community of Latinos in Social Media, as a part of their annual conference. LATISM is made up of thousands of Latino social media participants — bloggers, tweeters, and online conversants who use social media to build community online under the hashtag, #LATISM. The talk will explore the Latino digital divide – an opportunity to engage a group of the community’s digital elite in HTTP’s work of evangelizing digital literacy and supporting policies focused on closing the digital divide.
Hispanic Heritage Month: Celebrating Latino Digital Opportunity
BY: JASON LLORENZ, ESQ.
In celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, we are reminded of the progress made, and the struggles ahead for America’s fastest-growing community. This month, we celebrate the accomplishments of Latinos in politics, business, and every American sphere. Latinos have progressed, and continue to grow in buying power, educational attainment and number. The work of ensuring Latino participation in all aspects of American life must also include ensuring full digital inclusion – the advancement of digitally literate communities who are online and ready to leverage digital tools across their lives.
AT&T/T-Mobile and the California Regulatory Commission
– by Enrique Cortez,
August 16, 2011
As has been recently discussed on this site, the proposed plan to bring together AT&T and T-Mobile has been hailed by many within and outside the community as a unique occasion to strengthen Latinos’ ability to secure cutting-edge communications and mobile broadband technology. Now, the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) is holding a series of public hearings to examine the $39 billion acquisition and its affect on consumers. For the Latino community in California, the facts are clear that the deal will be a great benefit to Latinos in the Golden State.
Reforming USF & ICC: Leading Telecoms Provide a Way Forward Towards Universal Broadband
by: Jason Llorenz, HTTP Executive Director
August 10, 2011
Recently, a group of the nation’s leading broadband providers submitted a proposal to the Federal Communications Commission to reform elements of the universal service fund (USF) and the inter-carrier compensation system (ICC) – two important programs that, respectively, today subsidize telephone service in rural areas, and establish the now-aged rules of the road for hand-off of long-distance calls. Most important for advocates of universal broadband access, the USF reform proposal call for those funds to be redirected to realizing our 21st Century goals for broadband access to all Americans, including rural and other high-cost areas. The coalition filed its recommendation with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).