Why Broadband Adoption Matters

Speaking at an Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunication Companies meeting, Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn focused on the barriers to broadband adoption.

Cost of service and equipment is the number one reason why consumers have not adopted broadband. Digital literacy and relevancy are the other reasons. And for most consumers, it is a combination of these issues that keeps them on the digital sidelines.

Commissioner Clyburn believes the FCC has a duty to pursue the solutions that will address these issues, in conjunction with the numerous efforts underway. First, Congress asked the FCC to formulate the National Broadband Plan, in part, to ensure that all Americans not only have access, but also the capability to adopt broadband. From Commissioner Clyburn’s perspective, that staff report was an important first step for our understanding of the adoption problems that need to be addressed in addition to the introduction of some possible answers for our consideration. Second, the statute contemplates that the universal service needs would evolve over time. In fact, the FCC’s high-cost reform is based, in part, upon the Joint Board’s recommendation that the high-cost fund should be used to support broadband-capable networks due to the evolving communications needs of this nation.