David Gilford

Federal action is making significant new resources available to states and localities for broadband programs. The magnitude of this funding enables cities of all sizes to consider bold investments in broadband infrastructure. Where private internet service providers (ISPs) failed to provide adequate service, cities often turn to municipal fiber to the premises (FTTP) models. With the government becoming both infrastructure owner and service provider, these approaches enable municipalities to design networks that serve their residents and achieve policy objectives.

The popular conception of the digital divide is that it’s a problem of insufficient density; rural areas lack critical mass for infrastructure investment. In reality, at least 13.9 million disconnected households live in cities and metropolitan areas. Solving the problem requires addressing interrelated challenges of infrastructure and affordability. Where fiber is not easily accessible, fixed wireless is changing the economics of bringing broadband access to larger urban buildings.

This white paper explains how communities can ensure access to fifth-generation wireless bandwidth and services (5G) for all residents through citywide, architecturally coherent, shared wireless networks. The public-private partnership approach outlined below—made possible by recent developments in private wireless networking—enables communities to co-create ubiquitous, resource-efficient, and flexible neutral host networks that facilitate equitable deployment of wireless connectivity.

Universal broadband is the 21^st century equivalent of electrification, foundational to equity and economic prosperity in urban and rural communities alike.

The Biden-Harris “Build Back Better” agenda calls for closing the digital divide. The questions now are: how much funding will this initiative secure from Congress, and how will it be distributed? We believe that the answer will be informed by actions that states, cities, and counties take. As spending proposals are released, debated, approved, and then designed as Federally administered programs, the next few months will be a critical period for local governments.

The private market will not close this digital divide on its own. Nearly 28 million American households have a single choice of broadband provider; millions more live in duopolies. Government primarily serves as a regulator—recently, an anti-city, anti-competition regulator—with a few programs that subsidize internet service providers’ (ISPs) service of low-income residents. New models of public-private partnership are essential to achieve universal broadband. The public and civic sectors have three principal tools to shape these partnerships: