Building Local Power: Increasing Internet Access at the Speed of Trust: Sean Gonsalves on the Digital Equity Act

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The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act represented one of the largest ever investments in broadband infrastructure. Many in the digital equity space believed the bill would go a long way to solve the digital divide. Provisions like the Digital Equity Act promised to be powerful tools in ensuring fast and reliable Internet access for all, regardless of money, race, and the rural/urban split. Groups ILSR's Community Broadband Networks team supports got to work applying for and receiving government funds to make major progress bringing equity to the digital space. Then, on a Thursday night in May 2025, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he was cancelling the Digital Equity Act, freezing or suspending all grants awarded for it. The President's decision will likely face legal challenges because the act and the money appropriated for it represent an action that Congress has already taken. Still, the law's cancellation will have wide-ranging and devastating consequences in the digital equity space. Efforts to close the digital divide for the eight populations served by the bill are now halted in their tracks, just as they were gathering speed. On this week's Building Local Power, we are joined by Sean Gonsalves, ILSR’s associate director for communications on the Community Broadband Team. Sean brings his years of experience and expertise to explain to us the consequences and impacts of the cancellation of the Digital Equity Act. For transcript and related resources, see the episode page at https://ilsr.org/articles/blp-increasing-internet-access-at-the-speed-of-trust