Guam Receives Internet for All Planning Grant

Guam has consistently lagged behind all other United States territories regarding internet speed growth.  Approximately 30% of the state population lives where high-speed internet is unavailable, including some of the 31,000 students representing diverse ethnic groups who attend Guam’s 36 public schools. In areas where high-speed internet is available, Guam residents pay significantly higher rates than on the United States mainland. Speak Up Survey results from Project Tomorrow have indicated that there is a digital divide that exists within Guam’s public schools and a gap between Guam’s public schools and United States mainland schools in terms of access to and usage of digital technologies. To help address this challenge, Guam received planning grants for deploying high-speed Internet service networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative. Guam is receiving $1.4 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to plan to deploy and adopt affordable, equitable, and reliable high-speed Internet service throughout the territory.  The funding will create new opportunities to expand people’s access to high-speed Internet, digital literacy, and IT job training in Guam.