Affordability/Cost/Price

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) said that he plans to reintroduce the Internet Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act. The bill would invest $100 billion to close the digital divide. Rep. Clyburn, who created the Rural Broadband Task Force, said he had lined up support in the House and Senate for his bill, which would be re-introduced in the House in the next couple of weeks.

February 12 is the last day for you to nominate digital equity leaders for the Charles Benton Digital Equity Champion awards! 

The COVID-19 pandemic has put the digital divide on policymakers’ agenda like never before. It is challenging them to find solutions that meet the urgency of the crisis while building a foundation for sustainable progress over time. This means that policymakers will want to build on lessons learned and explore new approaches. In contemplating these and other ideas, policymakers may want to look at analysis of broadband adoption barriers – the more reliable the better.

I believe we should prioritize diversity and expanded opportunity not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s the smart thing to do. We are establishing a website where stakeholders can go to register their interest in helping to promote the Emergency Broadband Benefit program. Sign up—at www.fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit. Because we all have a part to play in this effort, and I hope every one of you will join us as we seek to raise awareness about this opportunity to get more of us connected.

The digital divide and internet equity is more about consumer adoption than it is about network deployment. This paper addresses the adoption problem, how it has been exacerbated by the Trump Federal Communications Commission, and how the Biden FCC will be called upon to think anew and reprioritize in order to connect more Americans. Trump FCC systematically and stealthily worked to weaken the Lifeline program. The Biden FCC’s Build Back Better opportunity for broadband access for low-income Americans has multiple opportunities to reverse that neglect.

In December 2020, in connection with a 2016 mandate to draft a report on the State of the Lifeline Marketplace, the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau issued a data request asking wireless providers about customer usage and cost information. While the FCC’s newfound interest in data is commendable, the bureau is asking the wrong questions.

Population density has favored the building of Internet infrastructure in urban areas, but there has been little economic incentive to do so in many rural parts of the country. As a candidate, Joe Biden seemed to understand that appealing to rural voters was a political necessity.

Racial and ethnic minority communities that lack internet access have been left behind in the race to get a COVID-19 vaccine. We are researchers who study health disparities. We are concerned that even when vaccinations are offered in these communities, those at greatest risk for COVID-19 may be unable to obtain appointments without the help of family or friends. This includes racial and ethnic minority communities and older adults, the age group that is currently being vaccinated. Our research suggests that lack of internet access may be an important reason.

The coronavirus has reinforced the Internet as the fabric of modern American life, a luxury-turned-necessity for a generation now forced to work, learn and communicate primarily through the Web. But it also has laid bare the country’s inequalities — and the role Washington has played in exacerbating these long-known divides.

Cox urges the Federal Communications Commission to consider the following principles in adopting rules to effectuate the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program: (1) allow customers to apply the benefit to their existing broadband service or other broadband service of their choice; (2) maximize consumers’ opportunities to select service from the providers of their choice; and (3) provide benefit certainty for consumers and providers regarding the termination of the program. On item #2, Cox thinks the FCC should: