Biden administration announces plan to increase access to affordable high-speed internet
CBSN
The Biden administration has announced a plan to expand access to affordable high-speed internet access for millions of Americans. The plan is part of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which was created under the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was signed into law in November.
Twenty internet service providers have agreed to either lower costs or increase speeds to provide eligible households with access to broadband internet with speeds of at least 100 megabits per second, at a cost of no more than $30 per month, the administration said in a statement released Monday morning. The 20 ISPs, which include AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, cover roughly 80% of the U.S. population, according to the administration.
In a Sunday briefing with reporters, administration officials said Latino Americans are 15% less likely to have high-speed internet than their white peers, while Black families are 9% less likely. In addition, roughly 35% of all people living on Tribal lands lack access to broadband services.
A blistering heat wave that recently brought record-breaking temperatures to large sections of the southwestern United States, including several major cities, is forecast to continue this week as it tracks over much of the country on its way toward the East Coast. Meanwhile, meteorologists have warned that powerful storm weather could dump as much as a foot of rain, or more, on parts of Florida and potentially give rise to another round of tornado threats in central states. Metropolitan areas like Chicago may be affected by a possible twister.
After four days of voting, with more than 400 million people eligible across 27 countries, European voters have pulled the bloc's 720-seat parliament farther to the right than it has ever been. The European Parliament, for the next five years, will now have a record number of far-right legislators. Far-right parties made gains in Europe's top three economies — Germany, France and Italy — with gains by politicians who campaigned against immigration, against support for Ukraine and against climate policy.
Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference is typically a springboard for the company to announce new tech features for its software programs, and not as flashy as its yearly September event to trumpet its latest iPhone rollout. But this year, the WWDC could be a make-or-break moment for the tech giant.