The report titled "The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators, October–December, 2019" released on June 30 by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) presents a gloomy picture of digital access in the North-eastern states. These indicators show that the digital divide between the rural and urban areas in the region remains wide. Disaggregated data reveal that the actual gap is wider in the region than perceived after a cursory glance at the figures. Data show that Assam has 27.47 internet subscribers per 100 population in rural areas against 100.97 internet subscribers per 100 population in urban areas. This indicates that vast majority of rural population in the state has no access to internet while some people in urban areas have more than one internet connections. Of the total 13.51 million internet subscribers in the state, rural areas account for 7.71 million and urban areas account for 5.80 million. Thus, only 26.80 per cent of the rural population in Assam has access to internet in rural areas while the number of internet connections exceeds the total urban population. Against 2,68,07,034 rural population, the urban population in Assam is 43,98,542. For Northeast telecom circle that excludes Assam and Sikkim, the internet subscribers per 100 population in rural areas is 35.94 against 109.92 in urban areas. The TRAI report states that the number of total internet subscribers per 100 population has been derived from the subscriber data provided by the operators and the population projections of the country, published by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. Mizoram, on the other hand, accounts for the highest wireless tele-density in rural areas in the region. It is 102.22 against 125.67 in urban areas of the state. Of the total 10,97,206 population in Mizoram population in rural areas is 5,25,435 against 5,71,771 population in urban areas. In Arunachal Pradesh, the wireless tele-density in rural areas is 99.52 against 104.17 in urban areas. However, the size of the rural population in Arunachal Pradesh is 10,66,358 against 3,17,369 urban population. Contrasted with Mizoram, the wireless tele-density in rural areas in Assam is 48.57 in rural areas and 173.64 in urban areas. Other five states in the region- Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim also show wide rural-urban gap in wireless tele-density. These indicators are also pointer towards the scale of progress of the mission "Digital Northeast 2022" launched in 2017 as access to wireless mobile connectivity and internet are critical to achieving the mission goals. The vision of this mission is to "leverage digital technologies to transform the lives of the people of North East India, enhance ease of living and ensure inclusive and sustainable growth." Strategies laid down in the Vision Document of Digital Northeast 2022 for improving digital infrastructure in the region include improving mobile connectivity in all the villages in the region, accelerating the Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the region and giving special focus to 8261 villages of the region without mobile connectivity. It also envisions improving high-speed internet connectivity in the region. Prevalence of the rural-urban digital divide in these states is attributed to slow pace of implementation of the nationwide telecom project -Bharatnet in the region as a large number of targeted village panchayats are yet to be service-ready which means last mile internet connectivity from the village to a consumer is not feasible in these villages. Improvement of the digital infrastructure for digital access has become more important following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Education is one major sector in which access to internet has become critical with most of the states in the region pushing for online classes as educational institutions have remained closed since the nationwide lockdown began on March 24. The TRAI report reveals that a vast section of students in rural areas in the North-eastern states had no access to online classes due to the wide digital divide. There will be far reaching consequences of such exclusion as those without access to online classes would be put at disadvantageous position. One possibility of such exclusion could be increase in drop out rates due to inability to cope up with study load when the institution re-open for classroom teachings. This will also create a huge rural-urban gap on Human Resource Development in the region, if the prevailing uncertainty in reopening of educational institution due to prevailing pandemic situation continues. This in turn will result in outmigration of more unemployed youth from the region as unskilled workers. Innovative and multiple approaches that can be alternative to online classes need to be taken by the States to reach out to the vast majority of excluded students in rural areas. The TRAI report sounds the alarm bell for the Central government and the state governments in the region that further delay in bridging the digital divide will prove costly.