Senate Hearing Provides Blueprint For Bridging The Digital Divide

Despite private-sector broadband investment exceeding $70 billion per year since 2013, the digital divide remains. Over 20 million households have access to, but are not connected via, a fixed broadband connection. This is a classic market failure. Without some government intervention, there will be an under-consumption of broadband. But what kind of intervention is called for? The Senate Commerce Committee held a timely hearing titled “State of Broadband Amid the Covid Pandemic.” The panelists represented a range of interests, from Jonathan Spalter of USTelecom, representing the broadband industry, to Gene Kimmelman, advisor and former head of the public interest institute Public Knowledge. Surprisingly, these two voices shared many ideas, including how to spur broadband deployment. This should give us hope that a solution is within our grasp. There appears to be a consensus on the need for more federal funding to close the digital divide. 

[Hal Singer is a managing director at Econ One Research, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, and a senior fellow at George Washington's Institute of Public Policy]