As governments push for universal adoption of broadband Internet service, policies must address the fact that many households with access to the service do not to subscribe to it. Lower adoption rates in some minority communities are one cause for concern. A confounding factor with respect to race is that it is often correlated with income, education, and other factors that drive Internet adoption in the home.
Internet access for Americans has taken on new urgency since the pandemic. Prior to it, many people without a home broadband connection could manage, perhaps using a smartphone for web surfing or taking a computer to the library to use Wi-Fi for more data-intensive applications. But the pandemic exposed the limits of wireless data plans for schoolwork or working from home, as well as the severe consequences of having limited or no access to the internet at home.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration seeks approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) to add 67 questions to the Nov 2021 edition of the US Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS). This collection of questions is known as the NTIA Internet Use Survey, and is also referred to as the CPS Computer and Internet Use Supplement. NTIA has sponsored fifteen such surveys since 1994.
The promise of fifth-generation wireless networks has drawn headlines for at least three years, but 5G that lives up to the hype has yet to arrive for most Americans. All of the major US wireless carriers say they have nationwide 5G service, but industry analysts say that service is largely indistinguishable from 4G LTE service.
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