Does America Want to Invest in Broadband?

On March 31, President Joe Biden traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to unveil his American Jobs Plan, and what he touts as a once-in-a-generation investment to rebuild the country's infrastructure. The plan calls for investing $100 billion to ensure everyone in America has access to high-speed broadband infrastructure. In a White House fact sheet outlining the American Jobs Plan, the Biden administration recalls the national effort to bring affordable access to electricity to all through the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. In 1936, nearly 90 percent of farms lacked electric power because the costs to get electricity to rural areas were prohibitive. By 1950, due to the Rural Electrification Act, close to 80 percent of US farms had electric service. "Broadband internet is the new electricity," the fact sheet reads. "It is necessary for Americans to do their jobs, to participate equally in school learning, health care, and to stay connected." But today, millions of people live in areas where there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds. Americans in rural areas and on tribal lands particularly lack adequate access. And, in part because the United States has some of the highest broadband prices among OECD countries, millions of Americans can’t use broadband internet even if the infrastructure exists where they live because they can't afford it. In urban areas, there is a stark digital divide: a much higher percentage of White families use home broadband internet than Black or Latino families. President Biden believes we can bring affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband to every American. The question now is: are we going to connect everyone in this decade?