Affordability/Cost/Price

With the start of the school year just around the corner, thousands of Minnesota students still don’t have access to reliable high-speed internet — meaning that many will begin another year of at least part-time distance learning with spotty service or no internet connection at all.  Low-income students, rural students and students of color are disproportionately likely to lack reliable internet access, raising concerns that the digital divide will worsen Minnesota’s educational disparities, which are already some of the worst in the nation. Roughly 25,000 Minnesota students didn’t have com

Nearly half of Mainers who responded to a recent survey said their internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic has been less than adequate. Results of the statewide survey by Mission Broadband, a Bangor-based firm, reveal disparities in broadband access and affordability in different areas, a divide that has been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Roughly 47 percent of the more than 2,600 respondents indicated that their internet service has not met their needs since the start of the pandemic.

In the COVID-19 era, life has moved to the internet, but not everyone has it, thanks to America’s notoriously unequal internet access. As many districts start virtually this fall, some teachers say they’re fighting to ensure that all of their students can log into class each day. Their struggles are just one example of the consequences of America’s failure to get all of its citizens online before this uniquely internet-dependent time. How did such an advanced country leave so many people technologically behind?

In anticipation of conducting future Internet Use Surveys, NTIA is seeking recommendations from the public about how we can improve our survey and make it as relevant as possible. Are there questions we previously asked that should be changed or deleted? Are there any questions that we should be adding?

Much of the focus in policy circles has been on how to expand broadband access to those Americans without it. This is a worthy goal, but we should not lose sight of the magnitude of the other part of the digital divide: the adoption gap. FCC data shows about 35% or approximately 114 million Americans do not subscribe to broadband service at their homes. Cost is often cited as the leading factor for why Americans do not subscribe to broadband even when it is offered. Clearly, we need a strategy to address this gap, too.

The key missing component of nearly every proposal to solve the connectivity problem is evidence — evidence suggesting the ideas are likely to work and ways to use evidence in the future to evaluate whether they did work. Otherwise, we are likely throwing money away. Understanding what works and what doesn’t requires data collection and research now and in the future. It doesn’t have to be this way. The pandemic did not only lay bare the implications of the digital divide, it also created a laboratory for studying how best to bridge the divide.

Money spent getting high-speed internet into more people’s hands is money well spent. Every dollar invested in broadband returns nearly four dollars to the economy. In addition to expanding the reach of networks, we must focus on the cost issue. Broadband is surely an essential need for all Americans in the 21st century.

With distance learning plans rolling out across the country due to the coronavirus, Comcast announced a new program for cities, schools, and nonprofits to connect large numbers of low-income K-12 students to the Internet at home. Internet Essentials will add the free xFi platform for parents to connect, protect, and monitor children’s devices and online activities.
Comcast will continue to offer 60 days of free Internet service for new Internet Essentials customers.

Associate Professor Colin Rhinesmith’s research on broadband access, wireless hotspot lending, and digital equity has new relevance and importance in light of the pandemic. “The most relevant work I’ve done is around the cost of broadband internet access,” says Rhinesmith.

Charter Communications has won support from an unlikely roster of organizations as it seeks permission to increase fees for customers that use a lot of data. The Boys & Girls Club of Harlem, for example. The New York youth organization is among scores of civic and local-business groups that have received charitable donations from the company, and have reciprocated by filing statements on Charter’s behalf with the Federal Communications Commission.