Why It’s So Important for Broadband Companies to Ditch Data Caps Right Now

As the coronavirus forces people indoors, internet usage is sure to increase for entertainment, work, and accessing information and services. For low-income households that already struggle to obtain adequate broadband access, being even more reliant on the internet may exacerbate the pre-existing challenges of living in a virtually connected society. “This situation is highlighting the digital divide and all the inadequacies of the current structures in place to provide universal broadband service,” says Olivia Wein, staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. In other words: If they can’t afford to connect, some Americans will be at an even greater disadvantage as we all get used to social distancing.

The removal of data caps and scaling up of low-cost internet options are good first steps to assist underprivileged users in these unusual circumstances, says to Cheryl Leanza, policy advisor for the media advocacy arm of the United Church of Christ, which works to expand technology access to underserved populations. “You might be low-income person and not have access to a health portal because you don’t have internet at your home or you’ve been using your phone to help your first-grade kid do homework and hit your data cap,” she notes. “You might be trying to figure out whether to take your 80-year-old mother to the doctor and it might be a lot better to use the telehealth video connection, but you don’t have any other way to access the internet but the library, which is another public place that people are trying to avoid at this time.”