Principles for Broadband Expansion with the American Rescue Plan of 2021

04/02/2021
Louisiana’s state and local governments will be receiving approximately $5.18 billion from the federal government because of the American Rescue Plan of 2021. Part of that $5.18 billion is earmarked for water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure projects. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted that many rural areas still struggle with broadband internet access.  Louisiana policymakers should invest...

TAGS: broadband internet, COVID-19, innovation, Louisiana, Louisiana Legislature, technology

Pelican, Partners Release Policy Solutions to Close State Digital Divides

05/18/2020
As connectivity has become more important than ever, elected officials at all levels of government are facing issues, challenges, and opportunities that have previously been largely unexplored. To that end, today, the Pelican Institute joined other public policy groups across the nation in releasing policy solutions to help states close the digital divide following COVID-19. This...

TAGS: 5G, broadband internet, Center for Technology and Innovation Policy, innovation, regulation, technology

TECH NEWS: Pelican Leads Coalition Supporting A Free and Open Internet

04/17/2020
Since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), led by Chairman Ajit Pai, ended the regulation of the internet under Title II, investment in broadband infrastructure has continued to increase. Now that we’re facing a public health crisis posed by COVID-19, this increase in broadband capacity is more important than ever. That’s why when the FCC recently...

TAGS: broadband internet, Center for Technology and Innovation Policy, innovation, technology, Title II

Pelican Responds to Calls to Extend Louisiana School Closures

04/09/2020
This week, the Louisiana Superintendents Association requested Gov. John Bel Edwards to close schools across the state for the remainder of the education year. The following is a statement from Ethan Melancon, director of education policy at the Pelican Institute, in response to this request. “While we understand Louisiana’s leaders continue the fight to contain...

TAGS: Education, Education Reform, innovation, online learning, technology

TECH NEWS: COVID-19 Social Media Incident Shows Value of Key Free Speech Protection

03/19/2020
As people worldwide go into quarantine and conversations around COVID-19 move increasingly online, thousands of Facebook users received a shocked Tuesday night when they discovered the social media outlet flagged their posts as potential spam content or misleading information. This kind of flagging is typically reserved for purposefully misleading websites or those hawking fake products....

TAGS: free speech, innovation, technology

Louisiana Needs to Lower Costs to Expand Rural Broadband

02/12/2020
If you are reading this article, chances are you have access to a broadband internet connection. A broadband connection is anything faster than a 25 Mbps (Megabits-per-second) download speed and a 3 Mbps upload speed. While this minimum speed isn’t considered especially high today, tens of thousands of Louisianans don’t have access to any broadband...

TAGS: innovation, technology