Harmeet Sawhney
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/journal%20of%20information%20policy.jpeg?itok=wsQGhDqj)
Universal Access and Its Asymmetries: The Untold Story of the Last 200 Years
In March 2021, President Biden announced the American Jobs Plan, a precursor to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act designed to kick-start the U.S. economy amid the global coronavirus pandemic. As part of the announcement, the President made a prophetic statement: “broadband is the new electricity.” Comparing the Internet and electricity connected the dots between a centuries-long experiment in universal access.