NDIA urges USDA rural broadband program to push for affordability

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) has submitted comments to the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS), urging the agency to treat affordability for lower-income rural residents as a key factor in implementing its E-Connectivity Pilot, a new grant and loan program for financing broadband projects in rural areas that lack “sufficient” broadband access. NDIA’s comments recommend the following:

• Affordability of service absolutely should be included in evaluating whether an area already has ‘‘sufficient access’’.
• RUS should consider setting an affordability benchmark for “sufficient access” that’s based on whether existing broadband costs exceed a reasonable percentage (we suggest 2.5%) of the average income of the poorer half of local households.
• RUS’s project review and approval standards for the e-Connectivity Pilot should give preference to projects:
  • whose network business plans include affordable service options for lower-income households, and
  • whose marketing and community engagement plans include digital inclusion support in addition to the affordability options (such as community partnerships to provide digital literacy training and access to affordable devices).