Will the Infrastructure Bill Fix America's Broadband Issues?

Many people with Internet problems are wondering how much of a dent the infrastructure bill's $65 billion for broadband will put into the digital divide. The bill's broadband section features $42 billion in grants to states for broadband infrastructure and about $14 billion to extend the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) for low-income citizens. While the infrastructure funding "should largely resolve the challenge of people not having a network at their home,” according to Christopher Mitchell from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, “we will still have tens of millions of Americans who cannot afford it.” Even with the $14 billion to address broadband affordability, Mitchell said a lot of it may end up with organizations that have monopolies on portions of the Internet market. Antonio Martinez, executive director of the Colorado Broadband Office, is a huge advocate for extending EBB for low-income families through the bill. Although the extension will decrease the program’s monthly Internet bill discount from $50 to $30, Martinez explained that legislators have made the discount “lower so that more people can take advantage.” Mitchell, on the other hand, would have liked the bill to address affordability in rural areas by including a funding preference for cooperatives. Concerning what they would have liked to see in the bill, Martinez mentioned that broadband isn’t a regulated utility. If the goal is to make the Internet more accessible, he said there should be a regulatory structure that is enforceable across all 50 states.