{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreibmvud2u73z2mzzjujhmtwf5wj4uncbczqhpiek2eb5ltpgadt4me",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:mg5ozsljpp6t5b4lvwys4t72/app.bsky.feed.post/3mm5lqqpomjs2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreiamjcndpgrviax2dld6tfj4af2ssmo3jqwsdcahtpbnu7nkcaywdq"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/png",
    "size": 1130933
  },
  "description": "One in four Americans will be over 65 within years. An industry partnership is building the digital literacy infrastructure to reach them.\n",
  "path": "/gfiber-aarp-partner-on-senior-internet-training-starting-with-chandler-ariz/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-18T19:18:21.000Z",
  "site": "https://broadbandbreakfast.com",
  "textContent": "ORLANDO, May 18, 2026 — The Trump administration's cancellation of $2.75 billion in federal digital literacy funding last May left internet training programs for seniors without a primary funding source.\n\nA coalition of fiber providers, a digital literacy nonprofit, and a trade association announced Monday they intend to fill part of that gap through a privately funded partnership launching first in Arizona.\n\nGFiber, the Alphabet subsidiary that operates Google Fiber, became the first internet provider to join the program. The initiative is structured by the Fiber Broadband Association, the Washington-based trade group representing fiber operators, in partnership with OATS Senior Planet, the digital literacy program run by AARP, the advocacy organization representing Americans over 50.\n\nThe partnership brings structured internet training to senior centers through a licensing arrangement that gives ISPs access to OATS Senior Planet's curriculum covering telehealth, online banking, and cybersecurity. GFiber chose Chandler, Ariz., as its first deployment site. AARP rates Chandler among the top five best places to live in the United States, and the city's large and growing retiree population made it a natural fit.\n\n\"Helping our loved ones who are aging is just not political,\" said **Ariane Schaffer** , head of public policy and government affairs at GFiber. \"That is why it was really easy to jump on board.\"\n\nVice president of business operations at OATS **Alex Glazebrook,** said the program measures outcomes rather than outputs, tracking financial security, social connection, health, and social isolation alongside basic connectivity metrics. About 19 million Americans over 65 lack wireline broadband at home, Glazebrook said.\n\n\"If we leave them behind now, the technology advances so quickly they can't catch up\" Glazebrook said in the context of AI. \"One in four people will be over the age of 65 within a period of years.\"\n\nThe panel also surfaced a structural gap in federal broadband policy. Schaffer, serving in her capacity as the Fiber Broadband Association's public policy liaison, said 16 states currently ban community-owned broadband networks, leaving rural communities unable to build their own infrastructure even when no private provider will serve them.\n\n\"We're at a time where 30 years later these communities have not been built,\" Schaffer said. \"They cannot help themselves, but they also know their communities.\"\n\nThe fate of $21 billion in non-deployment funds allocated under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, the federal initiative distributing money to states to connect unserved communities, remains unresolved, said **Deborah Kish** , vice president of research and workforce development at the Fiber Broadband Association. Those funds could go toward workforce development and cybersecurity training for ISPs, Kish argued, if federal guidance is issued to allow it.\n\nSchools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition Executive Director **Joseph Wender** said anchor institutions, the senior centers, libraries, and community organizations that serve as trusted gathering points, remain essential even as home connectivity expands.\n\n\"Even if someone has a connection at home, a senior citizen might not trust it, might not understand it,\" Wender said. \"Anchors in 2026 remain more relevant than ever.\"",
  "title": "GFiber, AARP Partner on Senior Internet Training, Starting with Chandler, Ariz.",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-22T21:47:08.495Z"
}