It’s not easy to keep urban areas connected to broadband

The telecommunications industry is pinning its hopes on the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program to bring broadband to all hard-to-reach rural locations across the U.S. But this doesn’t mean the country is done bridging the digital divide in cities. According to Heather Gate, EVP of Digital Inclusion at Connected Nation, there’s concern that urban communities are being left behind because access disparities are “not as visible” in cities. Infrastructure funding “is just not going into those urbanized areas,” said Ronnie Hammond, director of Maryland’s Office of Statewide Broadband. Juliet Fink-Yates, Broadband and Digital Inclusion Manager in the City of Philadelphia, says that folks in urban communities and municipalities are “falling in and out” of connectivity because they can’t afford it.