Pew

Increasing broadband deployment has been a critical component of the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic and a central aspect of the recent wave of funding aimed at modernizing the country’s infrastructure. However, achieving the goal of those federal commitments will require a new degree of public and private sector collaboration, and one issue in particular is causing a disproportionate amount of uncertainty: the attaching of lines for broadband to utility poles. To better understand pole attachment challenges and begin to identify possible policy solutions, The Pew Charitabl

This brief examines how place-based factors—such as education levels, social vulnerability, regional economic strength, and measures of income inequality—influence broadband affordability. These measures reinforce that income is not the only factor policymakers should consider when seeking to understand broadband affordability and adoption challenges.