Millions of Americans Are Getting Broadband Internet: Big Take Podcast

Kathryn Fink, Bloomberg News

Green lights illuminate cable terminals on the Sberbank and SberCloud Christofari supercomputer during an event to mark its launch into commercial operation inside the Sberbank PJSC data processing center (DPC) at the Skolkovo Innovation Center in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019. As Sberbank expands its technology offerings, the Kremlin is backing legislation aimed at keeping the country's largest internet companies under local control by limiting foreign ownership. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

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Seven percent of US households and businesses lack basic broadband internet. The Biden administration plans to remedy that with $42 billion in federal broadband infrastructure grants. Bloomberg telecommunications reporter Todd Shields joins this episode to discuss how local governments will spend this money and what it will take to bridge the so-called digital divide. Christine Hallquist, executive director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board, describes the challenges of bringing internet access to rural America.

Read more: Biden Touts Billions for Broadband in Economic Pitch to Voters

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This episode was produced by: Supervising Producer: Vicki Vergolina, Senior Producer: Kathryn Fink, Sound Design/Engineer: Gilda Garcia.