With federal broadband infrastructure spending now in play, public officials now must turn their attention to how best to bring high-speed Internet service to those trapped on the wrong side of the digital divide. Partnering with higher education can be a major part of the solution. Partnering with higher ed makes good sense. States and local governments do not have the time, personnel, or expertise to successfully implement such a far-reaching initiative. Further, as the pandemic subsides, public officials will have their hands full with reopening governments, revising budgets consistent with available revenues and managing the transition of their workers from home back to the office. The mission of higher education institutions aligns closely with the goal of training a huge public and building national broadband networks and infrastructure. Getting broadband and digital literacy to every American — while taking advantage of the opportunities for college affordability and student learning — is a big step toward achieving that goal.

[Dr Jabari Simama is an education and government consultant and a senior fellow with the Center for Digital Government.]

A Q&A with Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) about her new Antitrust book.

Q: You’ve talked a lot about big tech; when we talk about big tech, we almost always talk about the consumer companies at the edge. It feels like the internet providers, which are monopolies for most people, are not receiving this level of scrutiny. You used to be a telecom lawyer, you worked for MCI. Do you think that scrutiny is coming for the Comcasts and the AT&Ts and Spectrum Cables of the world as well?

Sen Klobuchar: I think that you have seen with Comcast, when you look at the cable rates, they’ve gone up every year after year after year. Now we finally — especially during the pandemic — are starting to see more streaming, it’s coming alive as a concept in a big way. There is some competition, but they still dominated. They’re the textbook case of years of dominating what’s happened. So again, that’s why I just keep going to: putting the right people in place, demanding more of elected officials, and making changes to the law that aren’t just about tech.