Broadband Maps Are Just One Step Toward Closing the Digital Divide

Before you solve a problem, you’ve got to be able to understand it. The Federal Communications Commission recently voted to deepen its understanding of the digital divide by making several improvements to its broadband maps, as required by the Broadband DATA Act. The agency’s goal is to ensure that its maps showing where broadband is and isn’t available are more accurate and more granular. This is a good step, and more should follow — but the agency must also recognize that the scope of the digital divide is much broader than questions of deployment. This mapping order represents the first step down a very long road towards digital equity. We applaud the FCC for its decision, and urge it to keep walking.

[Dana Floberg is a policy manager at Free Press and Free Press Action]