The term “digital divide” has moved into the mainstream, as the pandemic revealed how unforgiving life can be for those disconnected from the internet. As Americans have been forced to work, learn, and socialize from home, many in rural and low-income communities have found getting and staying online a major challenge.At $65 billion, broadband funding from the now enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), will be the largest-ever digital infrastructure investment and the first since the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which allocated $4.7 billion to close the digital divide.
