Op-Ed

The Biden administration’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law devotes $65 billion to a moon shot mission, involving all 50 states and U.S. territories, to bridge the digital divide once and for all.

In the wake of the Biden Administration’s request for a $6 billion extension of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), some in Congress question the program’s true impact on bringing broadband access to new users.

Rural advocates have high hopes for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. While it primarily focuses on providing infrastructure to places that are “unserved” and “underserved”, there is also a requirement for states to describe how their plans to award funds will address broadband affordability. Both are important topics for rural residents. The most recent data we have show dramatic rural-urban gaps in both broadband access and adoption. It’s widely recognized that affordability plays a large role in why households remain offline.

In today’s world, connectivity is essential to our daily lives. For more than 750,000 veterans across the United States, this connectivity is all made possible thanks to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)—and unless Congress funds this essential program, those veterans will be cut off by Spring. The program has been instrumental in keeping more than 21 million households connected across the U.S. and 2.5 million veterans are eligible.

How can participatory action research be used to develop a theory of change and an evaluation framework to benefit the digital equity field? In Developing a Digital Equity Theory of Change with Tech Goes Home, our research team discovered several findings that we believe can be useful for the U.S.

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program differs from previous federal broadband programs because it promised to allocate the funding to individual states and allow them to figure out the best way to distribute the funds. Once states receive their broadband funding, they still have to set up a mechanism to request proposals from internet service providers, grade the proposals that come in, and o

There is an underreported threat looming if Congress doesn’t act soon: 21.5 million households in the U.S. could lose access to an affordable internet. The bipartisan Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) provides monthly subsidies for low-income Americans to get online. And it’s been a great success: the ACP has now connected nearly 60 million Americans to broadband, many of whom have never previously had internet access at home.

The battle for network neutrality (aka the open internet) is back. It’s something that should have been instituted years ago. In fact, it actually was on the books—until then-President Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Ajit Pai, ditched the rules, largely at the behest of the big internet service providers like Verizon, AT&T and Comcast. Net neutrality rules were not only on the books, but were also court-approved. That should have been the end of the matter.

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program will fail if Congress doesn’t renew the Affordable Connectivity Program that states are relying on to connect low-income Americans. National Telecommunications and Information Agency Administrator Alan Davidson explained to Congress that the BEAD Program will be 

We are witnessing a moment of unprecedented funding to expand high-speed internet across the country. This is life-changing for the estimated 42 million Americans lacking access to a reliable internet connection, including as many as 728,000 Oklahomans. Ensuring everyone has access to affordable internet means making our local economies more resilient and increasing our regional competitiveness. Oklahoma is investing about $1.3 billion for broadband infrastructure and accessibility through state and federal funding.