Our lack of will to expand broadband access has left millions of students disconnected during closures

Internet providers stepping up in the midst of this crisis to maintain affordable service is the right thing to do in this moment—but it’s a short-term fix for a decades-long problem. To truly close the digital divide, cities and states (and Congress if needed) should follow the playbook from the 1930s, and from the many communities—red and blue, urban and rural—who have brought high-speed internet to all residents:

• Get Local: Today, more than 500 communities across the country have some type of publicly owned broadband network, and more than 230 communities across 33 states have a publicly owned network offering at least one gigabit service. 
• Change Laws that Block Local Action: It is an outrage that not every community even has the choice to provide a public option. Today, 19 states have legal barriers or even full prohibitions against municipal broadband networks, as a result of intense lobbying of state legislatures by existing private internet service providers. 
• Get Congress to Act: Congress could strengthen the authority of the Federal Communications Commission to back communities in states with barriers to public broadband networks. Secondly, Congress could undertake legislation, like the Rural Electrification Act, that provides financial incentives, such as low-cost loans, to communities to build their own networks, and close the divide in ways that are fitting for their unique geography and population.

[Ben Hecht is the CEO of Living Cities, a collaborative of 18 of the world’s largest philanthropic and financial institutions seeking to close racial income and wealth gaps.]