During the pandemic, face masks have created additional barriers for the hearing impaired as they block sound and prevent people from reading lips. Starkey has created a new AI-enabled hearing aid to amplify sound, even in the most challenging listening environments.
News
Research Peek of the Week: A Quarter of U.S. Broadband Households Likely to Upgrade Internet Service
New data released by Parks Associates revealed that nearly a quarter of U.S. broadband households in Q3 2020 reported they planned to upgrade their internet speed over the next six months.
Why E-Rate for Higher Ed Needs to Move with the Times
Rather than allowing E-rate funds to sit on a lofty but unattainable shelf without fulfilling their promise to our kids, policymakers should empower schools and libraries to continue supporting the growth and development of America’s children, even if from a distance.
IIA’s Bruce Mehlman Discusses Universal Broadband on Gigi Sohn’s “Tech on the Rocks” Podcast
On Gigi Sohn’s recent “Tech on the Rocks” podcast, IIA’s Bruce Mehlman discussed what it would take to achieve universal broadband, and whether bipartisan agreement is possible around long-term solutions for broadband availability and affordability.
WEBINAR: Investing in Broadband and America’s Future: A Chat with House Energy & Commerce Committee Leader Rep. McMorris Rodgers
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Bruce Mehlman will discuss how to achieve universal broadband and explore priorities for the Energy and Commerce Committee under the Congresswoman’s leadership.
Research Peek of the Week: FCC’s New Benefit Program Can Help Pay Internet and Phone Bills
A recent Morning Consult poll found that 49% of lower-income people of color and 39% of lower-income white people reported being concerned about paying for broadband service. The FCC’s new Emergency Broadband Benefit program will help subsidize these costs.
Broadband: Bringing Our Children Out of the Cold
Rural and urban communities need to have broadband available in their communities. We need to pinpoint precisely who has broadband and who does not. Then we have to create an environment so that they can afford the technology and utilize it effectively to adopt it in their daily lives.
WEBINAR: Combatting Systemic Inequality by Closing the Digital Divide – A Chat on Solutions with FCC Commissioner Starks
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and IIA Co-Chair Kim Keenan will explore how communities of color and low-income communities are disproportionately impacted by the digital divide.
Creation of Innovation: Wearable Technology Could Help Detect COVID-19 Before Symptoms Start
Fitbit’s newest wearable devices now include sensors that can track body temperature, oxygen levels, and heart rate fluctuations – data that can help detect signs of depression and a range of other diseases, like COVID-19.
Research Peek of the Week: 2/3 of Americans Believe Tech Companies Are Too Big
A survey from Utah State University’s Center for Growth and Opportunity found that over 67% of Americans think tech companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook are too big.
Reform This Lifeline for American Families
Alarmingly large numbers of American families are currently excluded from the digital world. Either they live in regions where it is uneconomical for the broadband providers to deploy infrastructure or they find the services to be unaffordable. Solving the affordability problem will be the province of both the FCC and Congress through reform of the 36-year-old Lifeline program, initiated in 1985 and largely underutilized today.
Improving Broadband Access Does Double Duty for Biden’s Top Priorities
Making broadband accessible and affordable across the country would help President Biden with his top priorities—fighting Covid-19 and improving the economy.