Digital Divide

To connect more Americans, Congress designated a slice of the $1.2 trillion 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), as well as a portion of the $350 billion 2021 American Rescue Plan Act that passed to provide financial relief during the COVID pandemic to fund projects that would cross this digital divide. All told, the bills provide around $90 billion in funding for connectivity spread across a plethora of initiatives. But the question remains: Will this colossal sum be enough to bridge the digital divide?

North Carolinians without access to high-speed internet at home tend to face worse health, employment and educational outcomes than those with access.

One looming question in telecom land is what happens to President Joe Biden’s mammoth $42.45 billion internet expansion effort — known as the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program — if former President Donald Trump wins the White House in November 2024. The big-ticket broadband program is at an inflection point. While the Biden administration has signed off spending plans from most states and territories, it will be many months before any internet construction projects begin — the first groundbreaking won’t start until 2025, under the next president.

On September 10, 2024, Federal Communications Commissioner Geoffrey Starks delivered remarks to the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) at its annual convention at Amelia Island (FL). Commissioner Starks highlighted a number of broadband-related topics in his speech, including the developments in wireless technology since his 2019 CCA speech, the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, and the need for more affordability measures like the Affordable Connectivity program (ACP). "Let me be clear," said Starks.

The lack of broadband in many rural and Tribal communities in the U.S. is widely recognized, but there are also claims of a lack of broadband availability in predominantly minority and urban communities, sometimes labeled digital redlining or digital discrimination. Motivated by such claims, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 includes a provision addressing digital discrimination and directing the Federal Communications Commission to write rules implementing the statutory provision.

In 2022, the Berks County (PA) commissioners found out their county, like many other counties across the country, was facing a digital divide. There was a widening, increasingly troublesome gap between those with Internet access and the skills to use it and those without. That realization was laid bare in a study conducted by an independent contractor that took a look at broadband access and availability. Seeing a need for things to change, they committed $6.3 million to addressing the challenges faced by the County.

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program—established by Congress in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—gives priority to projects that will result in broadband internet access service being offered in areas where service wasn't available before. Given that federal funds will provide roughly 75 percent of the costs to deploy these networks,¹ the chances that competing networks will be built at any time in the foreseeable future are very slim.

In May 2022, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published an oft-quoted report that described federal funding for broadband as a “fragmented, overlapping patchwork.” Despite more than 100 broadband-related programs investing millions of dollars into deployment, affordability, planning, digital skills, and connective devices, GAO found that “millions of Americans still lack broadband, and communities with limited resources may be most affected by fragmentation.” GAO asked the National Telecommunications and Information Administra

Merit Network and Michigan State University have completed the MOON-Light initiative, a multi-million-dollar project funded by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Broadband Infrastructure Program. This effort established Michigan’s Open Optical Network, addressing critical infrastructure gaps by deploying middle-mile fiber optic technology across 74 counties. By connecting local internet service providers (ISPs), MOON-Light brings affordable, high-speed broadband to underserved areas, benefiting over 28,000 homes.

In Montana, over 63,400 Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs) remain unserved and nearly 24,000 remain underserved. The Montana Broadband Office’s vision is to close the digital divide in support of Montana’s economic, workforce, health, and educational goals by ensuring reliable, affordable internet access for everyone in the state.