How Not to Close the Digital Divide -- Part 1,421

It is Day 1,421 of the Trump Administration. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, from Day 1, has insisted that closing the digital divide is the Trump FCC's top priority. This week, the FCC announced the winners of over $9 billion worth of rural broadband subsidies -- the "single largest step ever taken to close the digital divide," according to Chairman Pai. But looking at the results may leave millions of rural residents apprehensive -- and disconnected. Chairman Pai has planned his exit for Day One of the Biden administration, but as a Republican colleague made it clear he will not be helpful in ensuring open, affordable, universal broadband in the U.S. Last week, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr urged the U.S. Senate to confirm Nathan Simington for a seat on the FCC -- so they can stall action at the commission come January. "I think it would be very valuable to get Simington across the finish line and help forestall what really would be billions of dollars worth of economic damage that I think a Democratic FCC would look to jam through from Day One." Commissioner Carr would have served the country better by weeding out waste in the FCC's most recent attempt to close the digital divide. There are real concerns about the capabilities of the providers the FCC has picked to build these critical networks -- and about why some providers won subsidies to offer service in urban areas.