Craig Settles

Nearly 12 million urban household have no access to telehealth, but Federal agencies earmark billions for broadband and telehealth grants targeted to 3.8 million disconnected rural households. Urban communities demand parity with rural community for these grants that their tax dollars and telephone bills support. COVID-19’s disproportionate killing of Black people has thrown into stark relief the many health issues afflicting this population, afflictions that telehealth can mitigate.

In 2016, the Appomattox County School District in Virginia used broadband in a unique way to close the “homework gap” for 49 percent. of its students. But now this visionary deployment could be declared null & void by a Virginia state legislator. The Federal Communications Commission changed its rules to allow schools to use eRate-funded broadband after school is over to provide home coverage. The School District built its own fiber network, installed Wi-Fi radios onto the network to reach un-served homes with free service, and also saves the county millions of dollars in leasing fees over five years.

Virginia state legislator Kathy Byron introduced a deceptively name bill that would stop the county’s efforts in its tracks. As the Roanoke Times states, “In the spirit of naming bills the exact opposite of what they would do, her so-called 'Virginia Broadband Deployment Act' [original title] would actually make it harder to extend broadband to areas that don’t presently have it — or don’t have enough of it.” This bill corrupts the notion that communities can best determine and meet their broadband needs.

This report 1) explains how inadequate competition cripples urban broadband, 2) outlines the needs for gigabit speed and capacity in urban settings; 3) highlights why digital inclusion is an imperative; and 4) offers recommendations to maximize urban broadband.