To assist its East Coast broadband expansion activities in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, DC, Verizon is adding 1,800 more technicians to its workforce.
Since many of the targeted markets are rural and historically neglected areas, they are eligible to receive financial assistance from the American Rescue Plan. The Covid-19 outbreak highlighted the need for more widely available internet as those without sufficient connection found it difficult to transition to online learning, job, and personal connections. As a result, through a number of legislative initiatives including the American Rescue Plan, a $3.2 trillion bailout package that included around $7 billion for different internet-related programmes, the U.S. government set aside billions of dollars for various areas of broadband expansion.