Policy Positions
NDIA urges USDA rural broadband program to push for affordability
NDIA has submitted comments to the US Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), urging the agency to treat affordability for lower-income rural residents as a key factor in implementing its E-Connectivity Pilot, a new grant and loan program for...
NDIA asks FCC to preserve EBS for digital inclusion
The National Digital Inclusion Alliance today submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission on proposed new rules that could reduce future allocations of "Educational Broadband Service" (EBS) spectrum to local school systems, colleges and universities,...
White Paper – Tier Flattening
Today NDIA released a new white paper: "Tier Flattening: AT&T and Verizon Home Customers Pay a High Price for Slow Internet". You can read or download a PDF copy at NDIA Tier Flattening July 2018. Summary: In recent years AT&T and Verizon, the nation's two...
NDIA joins call for better Federal broadband data
Ten organizations including NDIA have called on the U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to take the lead in creating a new and improved system for gathering national data on broadband access and adoption,...
Satellite Service is Not Broadband
Recent FCC "Broadband Deployment Report" states 95% of Americans have access to 25/3 broadband. This number is influenced by the inclusion of satellite service as broadband. THIS IS A PROBLEM. The FCC's broadband data has other flaws but their data is one of the few...
The Quest for Digital Equity
The March issue of Government Technology magazine has some terrific reading, including an article on "The Quest for Digital Equity" that features NDIA's Executive Director on digital equity and digital inclusion. The article points to the...
Digital Inclusion Innovators Visit Policymakers
NDIA was originally created to educate policymakers as to the experience and expertise of local digital inclusion programs around the country. In fact, we knew we need to educate policymakers to the very existence of local digital inclusion organizations and digital...
NDIA Comments to FCC – Do Not Implement Proposed Lifeline Changes
On February 19, 2018, NDIA submitted comments in response to the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry, titled "Bridging the Digital Divide for Low-Income Consumers”. The proposed rules seem explicitly designed to reduce the Lifeline program's...
Guidance: Submit Lifeline Comments to the FCC
NDIA was first organized in 2015 to provide a needed voice for digital inclusion practitioners in the proceeding which led to the FCC's Third Report and Order, Further Report and Order, and Order On Reconsideration adopted March 2, 2016 – referred to as the 2016...
Webinar: Impending Changes to FCC’s Lifeline Program
Until the 2016 modernization order, the Lifeline program was only a telephone subsidy. The impending changes to Lifeline roll back much of the extension of Lifeline into home broadband support while also cutting the reach of the telephone subsidy. The following quote...