Statement of Commissioner Clyburn on ISP Broadband Affordability Data

During my tenure at the Commission, many of our nation's most prominent broadband Internet service providers (ISPs) have created or participated in programs that promised to lower affordability barriers that prevent low-income communities from bridging digital divides. Over the past several years, some have offered stand-alone broadband service offerings at discounted rates for those families that meet certain criteria. Unfortunately, it is difficult for us to measure the success of those programs due to a lack of publicly available data.

We are confident that these programs have the potential to help, but we don’t know what kind of impact they have actually had. To measure that, we need data, including how consumers are informed of these offerings, whether any artificial barriers exist within these programs that prevent otherwise qualified families from signing up, the number of low-income families that subscribe to them, and how long these families remain on these plans.

Transparency and collaboration among state and federal policymakers, Internet service providers, and local communities are essential to the success of any effort to close the digital divide. Each stakeholder has critical insight to bring to the table as we strive for universal service in this country. With respect to existing programs, ISPs have insight and expertise in terms of how to market these programs effectively and raise awareness of lower cost broadband offerings among target populations, and critical data to share that would reveal lessons learned over many years of efforts. This insight and data would be beneficial to all involved.

In that spirit, I urge ISPs to look for ways to improve their outreach and bring more attention to their low-income programs, disclose relevant data on these programs, and detail their progress in connecting low-income consumers through both voluntary or mandated affordable broadband offers. Digital literacy training is also an important component to close the opportunities divide, and public disclosure of any data detailing outreach and digital literacy initiatives also would be very helpful. We have reached a critical moment for deployment and adoption of broadband—an essential service. We all need to pitch in to finish the job.


Statement of Commissioner Clyburn on ISP Broadband Affordability Data