America came face to face with the festering problem of digital inequality when most of the country responded to the coronavirus pandemic by shutting elementary and high schools that serve more than 50 million children.

As the virus that causes COVID-19 spreads, the nation’s K-12 schools and colleges have been forced to weigh health recommendations against the needs of students, many of whom are caught in the digital divide separating those who have Internet access and those who do not. About 15% of US households with school-age children lack high-speed Internet access, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of 2015 Census Bureau data.

Telecommunication Internet service providers have provided the Federal Communications Commission with a laundry list of coronavirus-related temporary deregulation, including waiving deadlines, suspending rules, and providing more funding, all to address the teleworking and telemedicine and distance-learning load of a homebound workforce and student population. In its letter to the FCC, USTeecom conceded it could be costly and said they would press Congress to appropriate the money. 

I welcome Congress’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic with a much-needed economic stimulus program that will help workers, consumers, health care providers, and businesses across America. It is a time for action, and the Federal Communications Commission must do more to advance its own “connectivity stimulus.” The coming weeks will lay bare the already cruel reality of the digital divide: tens of millions of Americans cannot access or cannot afford the broadband connections they need to telework, access medical information, and help young people learn when school is closed.

Cisco's Kevin Wollenweber has turned into a COVID-19 sleuth of sorts over the past few weeks as he tracks the virus' impact on service provider networks via some of the major internet peering exchanges. Overall, Wollenweber, Cisco's vice president of service provider networking, said the world's networks are handling the increased traffic related to the coronavirus outbreak well.

Many advocates are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to significantly expand its Lifeline program. More than 250 organizations called on the FCC to provide low-income households with unlimited talk and text plans. The groups have also asked the agency to create an emergency broadband benefit that would provide eligible households with $50 per month to cover the cost of high-speed internet connections, where they are available. Eric Null, US Policy Manager at Access Now, argues that the FCC should ensure the Lifeline program lives up to its name during this time.

While much of the US hunkers down to work and shop online, large swaths of the country are trying to cope without an internet connection, leaving millions of households cut off from vital services and information during the pandemic. Here’s what the digital divide looks like across the U.S. In counties with the deepest shade of orange, half of households don’t have access to the internet.

How are networks are holding up in the top 200 cities? We’ve compared the median download speeds internet users have been experiencing for the week of March 15th – March 21st to the range of speeds experienced in prior weeks of 2020. Key findings:

The Federal Communications Commission issued a temporary waiver of its access arbitrage rules to Inteliquent, a telecommunications company that carries traffic for two of the nation’s largest conference calling providers, Zoom Video Communications and Cisco WebEx. Absent this waiver, the massive increase in conference calls made by American consumers using Zoom and WebEx to work and attend classes from home during the COVID-19 pandemic would likely result in Inteliquent being deemed an “access-stimulating” carrier under the FCC’s rules.

The Federal Communications Commission granted temporary spectrum access to 33 wireless Internet service providers serving 330 counties in 29 states to help them serve rural communities facing an increase in broadband needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Special Temporary Authority (STA) allows these companies to use the lower 45 megahertz of spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band for 60 days.