The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it has received more than 700 applications seeking $6.5 billion in funding for digital equity projects. NTIA noted that the total requested amount of funding is more than six times the available amount from the first round of the Digital Equity Act’s Competitive Grant Program funding. 

Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Angus King, I-Maine, introduced a bipartisan bill that aims to close the digital divide and promote “digital equity” utilizing $250 million in annual grants, according to a press release.