November 2021

Congratulations are due to Congress and President Biden's team for the passage of the landmark infrastructure bill. Now it is time to probe where the execution might need additional help. After all, anything that makes it through a politically complex process is far from ideal — the outcome is a compromise that never solves the whole problem. Consider the $65 billion allocated for broadband internet that had rare bipartisan support and has one of the biggest gaps to close.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021, was hailed by the White House and advocates as a historic investment to improve internet access in America. As a researcher who studies internet policy and digital inequality, I believe the infrastructure plan should be celebrated as a historic moment for broadband, but not so much because of the money it brings to the table. Rather, it is because of the way the law treats internet access in America.

The recently signed $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure package includes $2.75 billion for digital equity and inclusion work, delivering an investment that advocates are calling unprecedented and historic. That number comes within a larger $65 billion sum going toward broadband connectivity. This money is earmarked for organizations at the state and local levels, a key structure choice given that effective digital inclusion programs vary significantly by community according to Amy Huffman, policy director for the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA).

There is one quiet provision of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that slipped under the radar. Congress is requiring that the Federal Communications Commission revamp broadband labels that describe the broadband product to customers, similar to the labels for food. The Act gives the FCC one year to create regulations to require the display of a broadband label similar to the ones created by the FCC in 2016. Internet service providers (ISPs) are going to hate this. It requires full disclosure of prices, including any special or gimmick pricing that will expire.