Every State Identifies Broadband Affordability as Primary Barrier to Closing Digital Divide

In 2021, Congress enacted the Digital Equity Act (DEA) as part of the massive Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). This marked the first time that federal lawmakers had dedicated funding specifically for digital equity programming, providing money for state broadband offices to analyze the digital equity landscape in their states and develop plans to reduce the barriers to accessing such critical service. For the first time, all 50 states; Washington, D.C.; and Puerto Rico created digital equity plans under the planning grant program. The Pew Charitable Trusts reviewed all 52 plans to assess the range of goals and planned uses for the funding. Pew’s analysis found that every state plan identified the lack of affordable access as the leading barrier to digital equity. These findings are not surprising, given that price, not availability, is one of the leading obstacles to unconnected households getting home broadband services. For low-income households and people living on fixed incomes, such as many people age 60 and older, the price burden of internet results in them being cut off from the benefits that a high-speed connection can provide: from access to health care and education to staying connected to family and friends.