Affordability/Cost/Price

For nearly 35 years, the Lifeline program has provided discounts on phone service for qualifying low-income consumers. Over the years, the program has been reformed to include other critical communications services, including wireless and broadband. On Jan 27, a new set of changes, adopted back in Oct, will go into effect while the public gets to weigh in on additional proposals to reform the program. All month, we've been publishing articles on broadband adoption. For many people who haven't yet started using broadband internet access service, cost is a major obstacle.

New analysis of broadband adoption in a selection of cities shows a strong relationship between low household broadband adoption levels and poverty. The analysis also shows that rising economic tides in cities has little to do with recent growth in broadband adoption – but that declines in poverty rates do.

The digital divide is a real division in the country, affects more than just rural areas and keeps Americans from crucial access to 21st Century skills, a diverse panel of digital inclusion experts said at Next Century Cities' Bipartisan Tech Policy Conference. The digital divide affects more than just rural areas, said National Digital Inclusion Alliance Executive Director Angela Siefer. Benton Institute for Broadband and Society Senior Fellow Jonathan Sallet compared the conventional focus on internet access and subscriptions to the needed prioritization on technology and people.

In 2020 and beyond, my principal focus will be ensuring that our communications networks and technologies support security, privacy, and our democratic values. Internet inequality is a persistent problem that is only growing in urgency. Low-income people, people of color, and people in rural areas either aren’t getting online or are making great sacrifices to get connected. For example, according to a Pew Research study, only 45 percent of adults with incomes under $30,000 have broadband at home. Solving this problem is a moral imperative.

Cost is the primary reason that people do not subscribe to broadband. Current research suggests that low-income people can only afford to pay about $10 per month for broadband. One set of participants told researchers that affording $20 per month would be difficult; even at $10-15/month, low-income households are making tough decisions about paying for internet access vs utility bills (such as phone and electricity) and even the cost of food. To meet the challenge of providing fixed broadband at roughly $10 per month requires implementation of a variety of strategies.

Americans in low-income neighborhoods and rural areas get slower broadband speeds even though they generally pay similar monthly prices as their counterparts in wealthy and urban areas. The country’s biggest broadband provider charges more in markets without competition. Most people don’t have a choice. These are among the findings of an analysis of America’s internet bills.

Nearly half of Americans do not have an internet connection that meets minimum broadband speeds. Moreover, a staggering number of poor people of color do not have home internet access of any kind. And, across the board, Americans are charged some of the highest prices for internet service in the developed world. These are all symptoms of a much larger, structural problem: the corporate capture of the pipes, wires, and other infrastructure that powers the internet.