Every state is poised to receive a large amount of federal money to expand broadband access, but they have a lot of work to do to meet the government’s requirements for distributing it.
Raw sewage bubbles up in the front yard of a home in Jackson, Mississippi, on Oct. 20, 2021.
Rory Doyle/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Congress has approved billions of dollars to fix water and sewer systems across the US. But getting that money to needy communities depends on how states define a key word.
Expanding access to broadband internet in rural communities has long been a challenge.
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
States have widely different track records on expanding broadband internet access. Here are the ones that could struggle to handle the federal funds coming their way.
Closing the digital divide requires deploying a lot of fiber-optic cables in rural and low-income areas.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Hernán Galperin, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act designates broadband internet access as an essential service and targets billions of dollars to close the digital divide.