New Data Resources Available
PBDE’s Broadband Affordability Tracker updated and new speed test mapping tools available at our Resource Center
Pacific Broadband and Digital Equity
Dedicated to technology access and digital equity throughout the region. Advice, assistance, and advocacy for our partners on a non-profit basis.
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Mobile Data Speeds In Pacific Territories Are Being Left Behind
Guam, CNMI, and American Samoa mobile data speeds have approximately doubled in the last 5 years, according to our analysis. That is versus a national trend of 4- 5- and 6-fold increases.
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Boeing’s Crisis Can Drive Air Cabotage Reform for America’s Pacific
My flight home to O‘ahu—like hundreds of others—has been cancelled, with the situation prompting me to reflect on the state of air travel across the islands of the United States in the Pacific; specifically, our dependency on a few American-flagged air carriers.
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As Regional Download Speeds Climb, Upload Plummets For Some: 2023 Report
PBDE’s latest analysis of Ookla’s internet speed data reveals widening gaps in the Pacific. While Hawai‘i boasts an average download speed of 228 Mbps, Guam, CNMI, and American Samoa lag behind, averaging between 55-65 Mbps. Notably, American Samoa’s latency spiked in 2023, signaling possible network issues. Despite some progress, the region trails behind global averages,…
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AI Translator Part 2: Building And Testing The App
Håfa ådai! In our last post, we introduced our (still very much in beta!) AI-powered language translator tailored to serve Pacific Islander languages, starting with Samoan. As part of the Pacific Broa…
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Can AI Grasp Pacific Languages? Inside Our Push for an AI Samoan Translator
Our non-profit built a Samoan-English AI translator to assess equity gaps. Testing top platforms revealed mixed translation capabilities for Pacific languages. Our project explores limitations and ideas to improve access; much work remains to steer AI responsibly.
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If Elon Musk Thinks AIs Will Take Over China, Wait Until He Hears About Humans with AIs
Last week, a senior official from a state government who happens to be a friend and former colleague texted me an article. The piece, from Business Insider, reported on Elon Musk’s warning to China’s leaders about the threat of superintelligent AI taking control of their country. My friend, aware of my current work with AI,…
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The Pulse of Pacific Broadband: Taking a Deeper Dive
Today Pacific Broadband and Digital Equity has announced significant additional data available at its Resources Page. Extending upon the processing of the data generated by Ookla and its Speedtest data, our team has completed the process of filtering out full records for Pacific island territories and insular areas of the United States. We have also…
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Career Opportunity Available: Program Administrator
To apply for this position, please visit the listing at wellfound. Pacific Broadband and Digital Equity (PBDE) is a nonprofit organization seeking a Project Administrator to start as soon as possible. This flexible, full-time, primarily remote role involves working with amazing teams from schools, libraries, hospitals, youth centers, government agencies, and more from America’s Pacific…
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PBDE Issues Comment on BEAD Challenge Process and CAI Affordability
Today, Pacific Broadband and Digital Equity formally submitted a Comment regarding the National Telecommunications and Information Agency’s (NTIA) BEAD Challenge Process Guideline, in a response to a request for comments by NTIA. The BEAD Challenge Process is NTIA’s designed approach to the competition stages for sub-grantees to distribute the majority of the funds from the…
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PBDE Assists Community College with Bid for $3M in Campus Tech Updates
A’oa’oga Aso Nei is Samoan for Education of Today, and the name of a proposed upcoming program for technology modernization and digital curriculum at American Samoa Community College. The $3 million program is currently proposed for funding by the National Telecommunications and Information Agency’s (NTIA) Connecting Minority Communities grant program. Peter Dresslar of Pacific Broadband…