A new chance to close the digital divide

The “digital divide” in the accessibility of telecommunications services remains far too wide — and that current needs give urgency to closing it. A lack of sufficient Internet access is very likely keeping 12 million students from doing distance learning while their schools are closed.And the more that low-income communities are dependent on temporary grace from telecom providers, the more they have to lose when this is all over. New ideas are clearly required. For one thing, while many programs to address the digital divide understandably are focused on extending broadband service to rural places where it doesn’t exist at all, more solutions are also needed for urban areas. Many people who live in neighborhoods where high-speed Internet is available do not subscribe because of the associated costs. One answer could be to expand the Lifeline program, which provides subsidies of $9.25 per month for either fixed-line broadband at home or a wireless phone plan. Jon Sallet, a senior fellow at the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, says that 135 percent cutoff should be higher — as it is for other federal anti-poverty programs — given the increasing importance of broadband for economic development and public health.

For years, broadband researchers found that a sizable percentage of people who didn’t sign up for broadband simply didn’t see enough value in it. But jobs, health care, education, and many other daily needs and opportunities increasingly require fast connections from devices other than smartphones — and the COVID-19 outbreak will probably accelerate these trends. Now we’ll have to work harder not to leave anyone behind.