Latest news with #digitaldivide
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Digital divide: Gloucestershire woman given laptop amid fears of loneliness
A woman who fears "being left behind and lonely" and a home schooling mum are just two beneficiaries of a charity working to tackle the digital Bowden, from Sedbury, Gloucestershire, has a lung disease that affects her breathing and has previously struggled with booking medical appointments said receiving a laptop from ITSA Digital Trust, based in Cheltenham, will help her to stay more independent as well as keeping in touch with her has now launched an appeal for 10,000 computers to give out by the end of the year, with chief executive Geoffrey Newsome, adding that the charity is "trying to bridge the gap" for those without IT equipment and skills. Ms Bowden, who has stage four chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said she has previously been "a bit technophobic" but is now excited to use her new laptop."I'm willing to give it a go," she said. "One, to be in touch with my family and friends, and two, to be more independent in shopping [online] instead of having to ask somebody to get it for me."Some time in the future, I'm not going to have enough energy to go out, so I don't want to be left behind and lonely. I need to have friends, everybody does." ITSA has been running for 20 years and has helped more than six million people in Africa get educated in receives donations of unwanted IT equipment from businesses and organisations, including schools and councils, before refurbishing it at its base in Cheltenham so it is ready for donation. Mum Honey educates her two sons, aged 13 and nine, at home in Drybrook, but said that after their laptop broke about six months ago, the family were "not in a position" to buy another Lucas and Ted can do some learning through books, other things are exclusively online, she said."I can borrow a laptop from work, but it's really difficult when there's two or three of us trying to get stuff done and we're squabbling over a laptop," Honey have now provided the family with a laptop."It's amazing. It will make a massive difference to us." Mr Newsome said the charity is now aiming to reach its new target to hand out 10,000 computers to people in the UK as well as abroad."Digital technology is improving lives for some, but sadly still leaving far too many behind," he said."In the UK, digital deprivation continues to divide society and exclude people who do not have technology or cannot use it effectively."Our aim is to give everyone the opportunities we have to benefit from the wonders of IT."
CBS News
2 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Rocket Classic nearing $10 million in philanthropy while closing Detroit's digital divide
The 2025 Rocket Classic presented by AlumniFi is back, and they're excited to share why this tournament continues to have an impact beyond the Detroit Golf Club's footprint. Since the tournament's inception, its charitable donations have reached the $10 million mark. The tournament focuses on closing Detroit's digital divide. Less than a mile from the Detroit Golf Club, it's invested in Human IT, which not only makes laptops, routers, and computing accessories more accessible but also gives Rocket technology a second life. "The key with low cost is the key with most City of Detroit residents," said Human IT general manager Ed Jordan. Blue collar still use Bluetooth, and hard workers still need Wi-Fi. Rocket helps with that by donating retired technology so Human IT can refurbish it and resell it at accessible prices. "Some of these big-time companies, like Rocket, they donate some of this technology. We have a great partnership with these guys, and some of these devices have been gently used for like two weeks, so they're fairly new. So we get those devices, give them to the customer for a nominal price," Jordan said. He says Rocket actually invested in their brick-and-mortar location so Human IT could have a physical store right on Seven Mile and Livernois, ensuring digital equity where it's needed most. "It's very, very vital that the City of Detroit residents know that we're here to support digital literacy, support them with low cost devices, support them with understanding that we have to bridge that digital divide," Jordan said. As the Rocket Classic closes in on $10 million in donations since the tournament started, they're still focused on creating an equal playing field online today. "It's a great way for Rocket to donate the technology we're using on a daily basis, and it actually has a physical presence in this neighborhood, so it's a perfect connection to our mission do bridge the digital divide," said Rocket Community Fund executive director Laura Grannemann. Rocket's Changing the course initiative has helped the City of Detroit go from being just 40% digitally included in 2020, meaning equal access to digital technology and connectivity, to almost 70% now.
CNET
5 days ago
- Business
- CNET
Many Black Colleges Lack Adequate Internet Access. One Group Is Trying to Change That
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Dwaun J. Warmack, president of Claflin University, received an email from a student who had left campus and returned home to quarantine. The student wrote: 'It is my prayer that Claflin's passion for education aligns with its compassion.' 'I am currently typing my senior research paper at the local McDonald's that I drive to nine miles every day to do this work because my town doesn't have Wi-Fi bandwidth,' the student wrote. She said she would sit in the parking lot for four hours daily to work on her senior thesis. Shortly after receiving this email, Claflin University partnered with the Student Freedom Initiative to help provide students with broadband access. Broadband programs aimed at closing the digital divide in the US are currently in retreat but according to a 2021 McKinsey report, the 82% of Historically Black Colleges and Universities situated in broadband deserts aren't going anywhere. Broadband deserts are areas that either severely lack access to adequate or have no internet. Locating local internet providers In May, President Donald Trump announced the termination of the Digital Equity Act (DEA), calling it 'racist' and 'unconstitutional.' This $2.75 billion program was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law from 2021. It was established to help close the digital divide by increasing broadband adoption. This program was also essential to funding digital literacy initiatives for public schools and colleges, with some states and local governments already beginning to receive grant rewards. With the untimely end of the DEA, those funds never reached their destination. In 2020, students at Claflin University and the surrounding areas in Orangeburg, South Carolina, struggled with inadequate internet access because they lived in a broadband desert. 'The only way for students to actually get access to content was to come together in areas that provided [broadband] access, which created a problem,' said Keith Shoates, the president and CEO of the Student Freedom Initiative. He highlighted that at a time when students were supposed to be in quarantine, they were forced to come out of isolation and put themselves and their peers at risk, just to do their schoolwork. The Student Freedom Initiative is a nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce the wealth gap through education. In 2023, SFI partnered with technology company Cisco, providing 5G internet service across campus. While the Orangeburg community still faces challenges from being in a broadband desert, Claflin University has since transformed its broadband desert into a thriving space for students. A long history of HBCUs in broadband deserts Access to an adequate internet connection equips students to do better in the classroom and beyond. But many HBCUs are in broadband deserts. These broadband deserts are located primarily in the Black Rural South of the US. According to a report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the Black Rural South consists of more than 152 counties in 10 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. This information pretty much matches data from the Student Freedom Initiative. As seen from the map above, the Student Freedom Initiative currently works with more than 25 HBCUs in broadband deserts, all located along the Black Rural South in the US. These include Tuskegee University, Florida A&M University, Xavier University of Louisiana and Hampton University. Knowing the history of HBCUs helps one better understand these broadband deserts and how they exist. HBCUs are among the most underfunded institutions in the country, because of the effects of historical and present-day systemic racism and practices like digital redlining. The term redlining dates back to the New Deal era in the 1930s when banks denied residents from 'at-risk' neighborhoods, predominantly from Black communities, to qualify for loans. During this era, government agencies created color-coded maps, highlighting which neighborhoods are least to most risky in terms of loan-worthiness. Digital redlining is a discriminatory practice that involves internet providers excluding their services in certain locations. If you take a look at a map, you can see the distinction between areas with broadband and those without. According to data from the US Census Bureau (PDF), residents in urban areas were more likely than those in rural areas to have broadband internet subscriptions. Moreover, more than 90% of households in the urban south had broadband access in 2021, versus 85% in the rural south. For example, Mississippi, New Mexico and West Virginia ranked the lowest in broadband access. US Census Bureau Although redlining has been illegal for quite some time, a form of digital redlining still exists, as seen by the lack of competition among internet providers in the Black Rural South. HBCUs are located in areas with inadequate broadband infrastructure and it doesn't help that these institutions are severely underfunded by at least $12 million in more than 15 states. According to a Brookings Metro report (PDF), 'HBCUs are chronically underfunded due to state underinvestment, lower alumni contributions (related to lower Black incomes and Black wealth), and lower endowments.' Plenty of studies have shown that low-income communities often lack access to adequate home broadband connections. The McKinsey report noted earlier also shows that more than 81% of HBCUs are in counties where the median wage is below the national average and, compared to non-HBCUs, are in areas where the projected job growth is below the national average. Why does this matter? Improving broadband infrastructure would not just benefit HBCUs or the millions of disconnected Americans in rural communities but could help the US economy at large. Broadband access for HBCUs could mobilize the economy There seems to be a wave of uncertainty regarding the country's current state of broadband programs. The Affordable Connectivity Program ended in May 2024, leaving more than 23 million households without access to affordable home internet and, with the recent news about the Digital Equity Act, disconnected Americans may rely on federal funds primarily from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. But states have run into delays in receiving those funds because of bureaucratic changes. Additionally, there could be further holdups in light of potential changes to the program from the new administration. According to some estimates, most states may not hear back on a timeline until June or July. Shoates emphasized SFI's commitment to helping students, regardless of where federal broadband programs stand in this country. 'We're still moving forward because the problem still exists,' Shoates said. He emphasized the significance of moving forward with non-federal sources to address the broadband gap for students. In addition to their partnership with Cisco in deploying 5G internet hotspots for Claflin University, SFI also connects these HBCUs to high-net-worth individuals, organizations and other philanthropists in their network. One of their first notable partnerships was with Robert F. Smith, a philanthropist and the CEO of Vista Equity Partners. The Student Freedom Initiative was founded after Smith gave nearly $34 million to the graduating class of Morehouse College in 2019, paying off their student loans. Smith currently serves as SFI's chairman. Without the federal backbone support, nonprofit groups such as SFI will work with state legislatures and their corporate partners to keep the wheels moving. Still, eliminating or stalling federal funding from this equation will slow the reduction of the broadband gap. Warmack, Claflin's president, conveyed that federal broadband funding can really help, especially for severely underfunded institutions such as HBCUs. For example, Claflin University received a $2.9 million grant from the Connecting Minority Community Project through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which helped provide wireless internet on campus and in the surrounding areas. Shoates maintains that investing in HBCUs and improving their broadband infrastructure could potentially increase economic activity by half a trillion dollars, which would be reflected in the country's GDP. McKinsey According to data from McKinsey, a strong HBCU network could increase Black worker incomes by about $10 million, contribute at least $1.2 billion in incremental business profit, reduce student loan debt by $300 million and provide $1 billion in additional consumer expenditures. Broadband access and future student outcomes Yvette Thomas, SFI's program director of Institutional Transformation, said that HBCUs face persisting challenges because of the lack of high-speed broadband and the digital gap, which restricts students from accessing resources and online professional opportunities. Thomas spearheads the execution of HBCU capacity building, including modernizing the Information Technology infrastructure. 'When kids come to college, they usually come with at least five to six devices for the network and it slows the network down, ' Thomas said. Without access to a high-speed internet connection, students can fall behind in the digital landscape, especially in the new era of artificial intelligence. 'There's gonna be this 26-mile marathon and they're gonna be on mile two … and that puts them at a competitive disadvantage,' Shoates said. He added that broadband access is imperative to students as it equips them with the proper digital literacy skills they need in the workforce. Claflin University has since transformed its broadband desert into a space that provides 5G internet for students but what about the other 82% of HBCUs still living in these internet deserts? Who's to say that there aren't others with similar experiences to that Claflin student driving to a McDonald's parking lot for Wi-Fi just to complete work? Without the federal backbone support, the work of SFI, its corporate partners and generous donations from philanthropists are vital to help reduce the broadband gap in the meantime.
CNET
27-05-2025
- Business
- CNET
The ACP "Saved My Life": The Human Cost of Losing the Affordable Connectivity Program One Year Later
"The ACP program really saved my life," said Dorothy Burrell, a 55-year-old from Kansas City. Burrell was one of the 23 million Americans enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a pandemic-era fund that helped low-income households pay for internet access. These days, Burrell teaches computer skills at the digital advocacy nonprofit Essential Families, but when day-to-day life went online during the pandemic, she suddenly found herself stranded without an internet connection. 'Because I have lupus, it was hard for me,' Burrell said. 'My pastor had to come and put the food outside for me when I couldn't even video her, to talk to her, to let her know, or keep in touch with my family and loved ones.' Former ACP enrollees have had to make a number of compromises to keep their internet on since it ended a year ago. A January survey from the National Lifeline Association found that nearly 40% of people enrolled in the program said they had to reduce spending on food to afford their new internet bill. 41% cut back on necessities like clothing, heat and doctor's visits. Another 18% said their kids had difficulty completing homework assignments. Locating local internet providers I believe truly that it was the most successful program we've ever had anywhere in our decades-long bipartisan effort to crack the digital divide. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks But the number that stuck out to me the most was the 64% who said they're unable to maintain regular contact with family and loved ones. That was something I heard echoed by nearly every ACP user I spoke with for this piece: life without an internet connection can be incredibly isolating. 'I live alone, and the computer's like my best friend," said Phyllis Jackson, a retired administrative assistant in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. 'I listen to YouTube a lot. I check my emails a lot. I'm constantly on there.' The ACP provided $30 a month to help low-income households pay for an internet connection, or $75 for people living on Tribal lands. The program accepted households at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, or $60,000 for a family of four. Prices to get online have only gone up since it ended, with 63% of customers reporting higher internet bills than the year before in a recent CNET survey. Despite broad bipartisan support from voters -- and from former senator, now-Vice President J.D. Vance, who co-sponsored a bill in 2024 to extend the ACP -- the program officially ran out of money one year ago. Starting in June 2024, ACP users were faced with a stark choice: find an extra $30 in their monthly budget or cut the cord on their internet connection entirely. 'It was just a sad moment,' Burrell said. 'I was praying that they'd let us keep it. But it was over.' In my seven years covering the broadband industry, I've heard over and over from experts that the reason most people don't have an internet connection isn't because it's unavailable -- it's just too expensive. The ACP was the first time the federal government seriously addressed the affordability side of the equation. 'It was a matter of having consistent access to the internet,' said Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. 'Internet access is not a 'you have it or you don't have it.' It's, 'Do you have what you need all the time, so that it is available when you need it?'' But that investment in affordability paled in comparison to the money devoted to expanding infrastructure. Of the $90 billion Congress devoted to closing the broadband divide in 2021, the ACP only accounted for $14.2 billion; the rest went to expanding internet access in primarily rural areas. 'The ACP was the most effective program I have ever seen for helping low-income Americans get online and stay online," said FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks at a roundtable hosted by Broadband Breakfast in February. 'In fact, I believe truly that it was the most successful program we've ever had anywhere in our decades-long bipartisan effort to crack the digital divide.' That's no exaggeration. One analysis by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society found that a dollar spent on the ACP returns nearly two dollars in impacts to those using the program. Another study from The Brattle Group determined that the ACP generated nearly $30 billion in annual savings through improved access to telehealth services alone. In some ways, the ACP was a victim of its own success. Because it was a one-time appropriation, the subsidy was gone once the money was spent, and the outpouring of Americans signing up was beyond what anyone predicted. Internet service providers began notifying recipients in January last year that they'd lose the discount; by June, it was gone. Melvin Lewis was enrolled in the ACP through Computer Reach, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit working to close the digital divide. David Freudberg / Human Media Millions disconnected: Isolation, less groceries, missed appointments We're still untangling the impacts of the ACP's end. Just how many people lost their internet connection as a result is the subject of some debate. Census data released last September indicated that 6 million Americans added internet subscriptions after the ACP was introduced in 2022. Then-FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told Congress in November 2023 that between 20% and 22% of ACP subscribers had no internet subscription before the ACP. That translates to about 4.5 million households. Wherever the number lies exactly, we know that many millions of people crossed the broadband divide because of the ACP. But how many of them fell back in once the program ended? In a survey taken in its dying days, about 13% of ACP subscribers, or roughly three million households, said they would cancel their service after the subsidy ran out. (Another report predicted the number would be twice as high.) Those projections are no longer theoretical. A recent Ookla report found that the broadband divide grew in 32 states in the second half of 2024, which lines up almost exactly with the ACP's end. (Disclaimer: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, the same company that owns CNET.) 'We suspect that some of this [broadband divide] was attributed to the ACP ending,' Sue Marek, editorial director at Ookla and author of the report, told CNET's Cierra Noffke in a previous interview. They're going back to what they were doing before, which is using their phones as a hotspot, using their neighbor's connection if they can, driving or walking to the library or Starbucks. Kami Griffiths, executive director of digitalLIFT ISPs have also noted losses since the ACP ended, even though many offered their own discounted plans for low-income customers. Spectrum attributed around 200,000 lost subscribers to the end of the program, while Xfinity shed around 79,000. Melvin Lewis, a retired musician who lives alone in Pittsburgh and was enrolled in the ACP, said he would only cancel his internet as a last resort. 'It's extremely important for me,' he said. 'I absolutely need this internet. It keeps me connected to the rest of the world.' For those ACP subscribers who couldn't afford to keep their internet connection, many are reverting to old strategies for getting online. 'It's really sad. People just can't afford it anymore,' said Kami Griffiths, executive director of the digital equity nonprofit digitalLIFT. 'They're going back to what they were doing before, which is using their phones as a hotspot, using their neighbor's connection if they can, driving or walking to the library or Starbucks.' Other options, but nothing as consistent Since it ended, many former ACP enrollees have switched to low-income internet plans offered directly by providers, which can be less reliable than a federal government subsidy. Karen Kama, a 68-year-old digital skills student with the Reading Public Library, told me that she uses Comcast's low-income plan, which is available to anyone who receives a social service benefit like Medicaid or public housing assistance. She said her monthly payment has already increased from $10 to $15 since she enrolled. 'If they go up again, I'm just going to have that shut off,' Kama said. 'I'm on a fixed income. I can't let nothing get out of hand. So if they go up again, then I'm just going to delete that, give them back their box and see if I can do something else.' Another issue with these plans is that they often don't allow you to participate if you have an outstanding balance on your account. 'If you lose your job and miss a bill, you're not eligible for their low-cost plan,' said Drew Garner, a director of policy engagement for the nonprofit Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. 'The existing low-cost plans are a drop in the bucket. The ACP was the real key.' What we would hear last summer, when we'd go to the Hill, was, 'Well, you know, since the ACP ran out of funding, we haven't heard from anyone.' No kidding, because they don't have a way to get in touch with you. Danielle Perry, board member with The National Lifeline Association Since the ACP ended, a number of cities and states have also created their own internet subsidies. Before the ACP ended, New York state began requiring internet providers to offer plans for low-income households starting at $15 a month, which the Supreme Court upheld in December 2024. Similar legislation is on the table in California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Vermont. 'It's clearly on the minds of policymakers,' said Jake Varn, an associate manager with The Pew Charitable Trusts' broadband access initiative. 'There's generally a wave of recognition that affordability is a real, serious challenge.' But this piecemeal approach has its downsides, too. 'What New York has is an incredible solution,' Siefer said. 'But is that ideal that we do this, state-by-state? Absolutely not. We really need to have one solution across the country.' While there have been several ACP extension bills introduced over the past year, none of them have made it out of committee. Broadband funding generally doesn't grab headlines -- recent Presidential social media posts aside -- and some observers think Congress has been content to let the issue peter out. 'What we would hear last summer, when we'd go to the Hill, was, 'Well, you know, since the ACP ran out of funding, we haven't heard from anyone,'' said Danielle Perry, a board member with the trade group The National Lifeline Association. 'No kidding, because they don't have a way to get in touch with you.' The vast majority of federal broadband spending goes toward expanding infrastructure in rural areas, not affordability. deepblue4you / Getty Images A loss of trust There have been a few glimmers of an ACP revival over the past year, but the community organizations I spoke with said it wouldn't be easy to re-engage those 23 million homes. 'It took a lot of work to get people signed up, and it took a lot of organizations putting their legitimacy on the line,' said Revati Prasad, executive director for the nonprofit Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. 'There's this loss of trust.' If this is so important, who's fighting for us to keep it? Melvin Lewis, former ACP user According to a (since-deleted) White House fact sheet, one in four households participating in the ACP program were Black, one in four were Latino and nearly half were military families, along with 4 million seniors and 10 million Americans over the age of 50. Melvin Lewis, the retired musician in Pittsburgh, initially got enrolled in the ACP through Computer Reach, a local nonprofit working to close the digital divide. 'How it was sold to me was like, this is for older people, people in the rural areas, and it's especially important for us to have,' he said. 'Then they just take it away. If this is so important, who's fighting for us to keep it?' This was echoed in my conversations with people on the ground who worked to enroll ACP users. Getting people signed up was a huge undertaking, and there's no guarantee that it would be as successful a second time around. 'They stuck their necks out for the program. They were trusted messengers,' said Daiquiri Ryan Mercado, strategic legal adviser and policy counsel for the National Hispanic Media Coalition. 'And then it kind of just ended with a very short off-ramp period.' 'Can't live without it' Each of those 23 million ACP users has a unique story, but a common theme emerged in my conversations: the internet was essential for them, and they were willing to make big sacrifices to stay online. When I asked Phyllis Jackson whether she ever thought about canceling her internet after the ACP ended, she seemed shocked that I would even ask. 'Oh no! I can't live without it,' she said. 'I will find some way -- cutting down on food or heat or whatever. Because it's really necessary.' Dorothy Burrell, the digital navigator with Essential Families in Kansas City, gave me the same answer. 'Never. Never. You need it. You need the internet no matter what," she said. Melvin Lewis said he would only cancel his internet as a last resort. 'Internet is something you just absolutely have to have,' he said. 'It's like having lights or water or sewage. I don't know how people get along without it.' What other low-income internet options are available? There's no one resource that's been a substitute for the Affordable Connectivity Program, but there are several options available that can help low-income families pay for internet. Here's what's out there: Lifeline : This federal subsidy provides $9.25 per month toward phone or internet services, but the income requirements are lower than the ACP's: 135% of or $43,402 for a family of four. You can also qualify if you participate in Federal Public Housing Assistance, Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Supplemental Security Income, Tribal-specific programs or the Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit Programs. : This federal subsidy provides $9.25 per month toward phone or internet services, but the income requirements are lower than the ACP's: 135% of or $43,402 for a family of four. You can also qualify if you participate in Federal Public Housing Assistance, Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Supplemental Security Income, Tribal-specific programs or the Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit Programs. State and local resources: Many states and cities created their own low-income internet subsidies after the ACP ended. The best way to find local programs is by searching "[location] internet resources" in Google. You can also use CNET's guide to low-income internet options in all 50 states. Many states and cities created their own low-income internet subsidies after the ACP ended. The best way to find local programs is by searching "[location] internet resources" in Google. You can also use CNET's guide to low-income internet options in all 50 states. Low-income plans from internet providers: Many internet providers had their own discounted plans before the ACP, and they started offering them again after it ended. The National Digital Inclusion Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to closing the digital divide, developed a scoring system called Grading Internet for Good based on factors like cost, transparency and plan performance. You can see these ratings in the table below, along with some basic information about each plan. To find which providers are available in your area, put in your address on the FCC's broadband map. This will give you a list of every provider that serves your home. To see what plans are available, you'll have to enter your address on each provider's website individually.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fresno County rural areas to gain better internet access. Here's how
Internet access can be a challenge for underserved rural communities like Caruthers or Riverdale in Fresno County. That challenge became apparent during the pandemic when school districts in rural areas throughout the San Joaquin Valley had to provide education to their students virtually. Orin Hirschkorn, superintendent of Caruthers Unified School District, said the district learned during the pandemic that the community of about 2,500 people, located 15 miles south of downtown Fresno, faced all sorts of barriers. 'Number one was actually access. So that created several issues,' Hirschkorn said. Not only did the school district had to provide the education and instruction to the students, but students had to have a device to access the internet. 'And we were lacking in all of those areas,' Hirschkorn said. But, thanks to a partnership between Comcast, the state and Fresno County, reliable internet access is now available to Caruthers students and their families, decreasing the digital divide — the gap between those with access to digital devices and services to those without it — many rural areas have. 'Whenever we come into a community like Caruthers, it's important for us to not only bring high quality service, but to bring something that leaves a lasting impact,' said Nathan Ahle, government affairs director for Comcast California. Broadband access in rural areas is important for online learning, telehealth appointments, banking services, job and employment opportunities, Ahle said. Caruthers eighth grader Mia Perez Galindo was one of the 88 students in Caruthers Unified who received a brand-new laptop from Comcast earlier this month. Hirschkorn said Comcast's donation of laptops to students helps the district get over another obstacle — having devices to access the internet. This month, the partnership between the county and Comcast kicked off a new rural broadband expansion project expected to be completed by 2026. It would bring a reliable, high-speed broadband network to underserved households in the rural community of Riverdale, about 10 miles south of Caruthers. The expansion is made possible by a $1 million Federal Funding Account (FFA) grant from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and private funding by Comcast. The state established the $2 billion 'Last Mile' broadband program in 2021, after the pandemic exposed digital divide disparities in low income rural communities. 'They're making sure this last mile got done so people actually have good internet at home, not just at school,' said Fresno County Supervisor Buddy Mendes, who represents the communities of Riverdale and Caruthers. 'The pandemic really exposed the fact that rural students had no access to internet,' Mendes said. 'We had to literally leave the lights on in the libraries, so they could park in the parking lot and use the internet.' Mendes said extending service to Riverdale will boost economic growth, support and attract new business and enhance residents quality of life.
