Broadband in red and blue states: Three solutions to low-income internet access

There are almost three times as many Americans without a broadband subscription in blue urban areas than in red state rural areas. The Trump Federal Communications Commission, by focusing its attention on rural areas with a lack of access (i.e., those unable to get broadband) is dealing with only part of the digital divide. The larger part of the digital divide is adoption; those Americans who may have broadband available, but don’t or can’t use it. Here are three solutions the Trump FCC could pursue if they really were dedicated to making the digital divide their “number one priority.”

1. Spend E-Rate Surplus to Connect the New “Classrooms”
2. Make Cable Companies Eligible for Lifeline
3. Repeat What the FCC Has Already Done for a Favored Constituency. In July, Trump-appointed FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr proposed the creation of a new health care support program for rural residents. If the Trump FCC were serious about overcoming the educational digital divide, it could similarly modify the E-Rate program to move from supporting services to buildings housing schools and libraries and allow support of services to individuals.

A 21st Century Civil Right: Amidst the overriding national challenges of racial equality, a poorly managed pandemic, and economic upheaval it is legitimate to ask whether broadband for all Americans rises to the level of a national priority. The Trump FCC, however, has politicized the programs created to attack the digital divide. Targeting effort to help the base of rural Trump voters while largely turning a blind eye to the plight of blue state low-income Americans is hardly the promised “bringing the internet to all Americans.”