The US Chamber of Commerce’s Technology Engagement Center (C_TEC) released nine policy principles aimed at closing America’s digital divide.

The COVID-19 crisis laid bare critical shortcomings in our approach to universal service.  As good as our networks are, broadband accessibility is an issue for some American households. We believe bold action is needed – it is time for Congress to modernize and reform USF (Universal Service Fund) programs and establish a secure funding source for broadband connectivity for all Americans.

Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR) was joined by Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA), Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raúl Grijalva in releasing the text of H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act.

Three out of every four Americans who lack broadband access have the infrastructure in their neighborhood but haven’t connected to it. Most just don’t have the money. Unlike in other wealthy nations, the federal government has imposed no cost controls to make broadband more affordable.

If we have learned anything during this pandemic, it is that access to broadband is now a social determinant of health, education, work, and economic security. What do we hope that our legislative and government agency leaders will consider?

Several of the internet discount programs from the Keep Americans Connected pledge are set to end in the coming weeks — a looming expiration that, if left unaddressed, threatens to unravel a precarious thread of the social safety net at a particularly difficult time for many American families. Angela Siefer, the executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, said that although the school year is winding down, the need for access to the web — and the challenge of affording it — have not gone away.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai sent a letter to Congress seeking legislation to help consumers and small businesses stay connected over the coming months after the end of the Keep Americans Connected Pledge. While the Pledge expires on June 30, Chairman Pai informed Congress that he has asked companies not to disconnect consumers and small businesses who are behind on their bills due to the coronavirus pandemic in July, but instead offer the option of extended payment plans and deferred payment arrangements.

On March 16, 2020, 16 senators wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging the FCC to use its emergency powers during the coronavirus pandemic to temporarily waive relevant E-rate program rules and allow its beneficiaries to utilize universal service funding to provide home wireless service to existing school devices and hotspots for students who lack internet access at home. 

We’ve come together to celebrate World Wi-Fi Day, which is [June 20]. You could make the case that every day has been Wi-Fi Day since the pandemic took hold. I think it’s appropriate that the focus of this event is on the power of Wi-Fi to help bridge the digital divide—to connect the unconnected. What is the Federal Communications Commission doing to harness the power of Wi-Fi to bridge the digital divide?

Healthcare providers are hurting. As positive coronavirus cases increase in many rural parts of the country, hospitals and health clinics struggle to keep pace with the heightened demand for telehealth visits. Physicians are now seeing 50 to 175 times the number of patients via telehealth than they did prior to the pandemic. The increase in popularity is for good reason.