FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks

This pandemic may define our generation, and the changes in our daily lives required by social distancing have highlighted the importance of broadband and the consequences of internet inequality. I’d like to discuss four points that I think are necessary to address the digital divide in rural America. First, the Federal Communications Commission must fund rural broadband with fixed maps. Second, to address rural connectivity we must incentivize providers to bring future-proof broadband to our communities. Third, we must hold auction winners accountable.

I have called for the FCC to enact a “connectivity stimulus” to see Americans through the coronavirus crisis and power our economy. While a lot of data are still coming in, early results have delivered a clear message: COVID-19 is disproportionately hitting densely populated urban areas and having a devastating impact on African Americans and other communities of color. On a personal note, I read a report this week that Black residents of Kansas City make up 50% of those testing positive for the coronavirus, while they are only 30% of the population.

When public health requires social distancing and quarantine, closing the digital divide becomes central to our collective safety and economic security. In particular, we should leverage the Federal Communications Commission’s $8 billion in universal service funding, and focus our efforts on students and vulnerable, struggling Americans. Each week, as millions more Americans apply for unemployment and food assistance programs - - the FCC needs to enhance its Lifeline program, the only federal program with the sole mission of bringing affordable communications to low-income Americans and a c

I welcome Congress’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic with a much-needed economic stimulus program that will help workers, consumers, health care providers, and businesses across America. It is a time for action, and the Federal Communications Commission must do more to advance its own “connectivity stimulus.” The coming weeks will lay bare the already cruel reality of the digital divide: tens of millions of Americans cannot access or cannot afford the broadband connections they need to telework, access medical information, and help young people learn when school is closed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us all of the importance of a free and open internet. Our broadband connections are more critical than ever, and we must pay special attention to protecting the access of the most vulnerable and those on the front lines of the coronavirus response. That’s why the Commission’s net neutrality remand proceeding is so important – because it asks the public to comment on how the agency’s decision affects Lifeline participants and public safety. Given these extraordinary times, I wish that we’d granted the full extension sought by the requesters.

In support of their public health efforts, states are implementing increasingly strict orders to stop non-essential business and keep residents at home. Both California and New York have, consistent with the guidance of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, identified telecommunications as essential infrastructure that must be supported even as other activities are restricted. I encourage all state and local officials to adopt this approach. Around the country, dedicated teams are working under challenging circumstances to expand access to communications networks.

One instruction remains consistent and clear during the coronavirus pandemic: Stay home. For many of us, that means taking our daily activities — work, school, medical care and connecting with loved ones — online. But not for everyone.

More and more Americans are being asked to support the public health effort by staying h home. That means taking our daily activities—work, school, medical care, and connecting with loved ones—online. But for the tens of millions of Americans without broadband access at home, that’s simply not an option. Closing the digital divide has always been my top priority as a Commissioner; today, it’s more essential than ever to our safety and our economic security. I applaud the broadband companies that have decided to make changes to their business practices to support the response to COVID-19.

Americans are going to need broadband in their homes—to help them telework to keep the economy strong; to help them understand medical information, and potentially connect with medical care via telemedicine; and to help our youngest learners continue to grow. The Federal Communications Commission must join that effort immediately with emergency steps that bring broadband into homes in communities impacted by COVID-19.

As our communications networks have expanded, we sometimes take stable, reliable access to communications—and the access to friends and family, emergency services, employment, and all of the many benefits those networks provide—for granted.