Affordability and the Digital Divide

Understanding affordability of internet service and its role in adoption are crucial for developing solutions to close the digital divide.The goals of this study were first to understand the barriers to connectivity and efficacy of low-cost internet service options; and second, to use the findings to inform digital inclusion policies, advocacy efforts, and other initiatives that aim to drive digital equity. The findings were informed by a national survey on broadband adoption among low- and lower-middle income households.

• 7 million households whose annual incomes are $50,000 or less have home high-speed service due to free or discount offers;
• 40% said they cannot afford to pay anything for a home internet high-speed service subscription;
• 46% said it is "very" or "somewhat” difficult to build their monthly internet bill into their budget;
• 62% would require significant cost relief (relative to market prices) to have broadband service at home;
• 25% said they heard of free or discount internet offers and 23% heard of the Emergency Broadband Benefit;
• 28% of those who heard of either discount program (in above bullet) found it difficult to sign up; and
• 37% of households said they could not afford any more than $100 for a computer.

[This survey was funded by the Ballmer Group and Microsoft. John Horrigan is a Benton Senior Fellow.]