Ariel Benjamin
National Efforts to Close the Digital Divide Require Local Empowerment
Universal broadband is the 21st century equivalent of electrification, foundational to equity and economic prosperity in urban and rural communities alike.
How Should the Biden-Harris Administration Close the Digital Divide?
The Biden-Harris “Build Back Better” agenda calls for closing the digital divide. The questions now are: how much funding will this initiative secure from Congress, and how will it be distributed? We believe that the answer will be informed by actions that states, cities, and counties take. As spending proposals are released, debated, approved, and then designed as Federally administered programs, the next few months will be a critical period for local governments.
Broadband from the Bottom Up: How Community Organizations Can Shape the Broadband Future
The private market will not close this digital divide on its own. Nearly 28 million American households have a single choice of broadband provider; millions more live in duopolies. Government primarily serves as a regulator—recently, an anti-city, anti-competition regulator—with a few programs that subsidize internet service providers’ (ISPs) service of low-income residents. New models of public-private partnership are essential to achieve universal broadband. The public and civic sectors have three principal tools to shape these partnerships: