Fiber Broadband can Eliminate the North American Rural Digital Divide

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In 2021, a household of four requires 131/73 Mbps of bandwidth and will grow to 2,141/2,044 Mbps by 2030. This makes today’s definition of broadband speeds unusable, as the Federal Communications Commission currently defines broadband as a mere 25/3 Mbps for Americans. This antiquated definition of broadband affect the rural populations the most. 62% of the most rural areas have the lowest-performing broadband with speeds for the lowest quantile at 4/1 Mbps. To eliminate the rural digital divide, attention and investment should be placed on the most effective rural broadband infrastructure. There is no communications medium nearly as effective or future-proof as fiber optics. Fiber’s transmission capacity can be increased almost infinitely as needed to supply any level of bandwidth. Fiber is immune to electrical interference and requires fewer powered nodes, enabling it to serve as the most consistent and reliable technology option. Additionally, the cost to operate a fiber-to-the-home system is lower than other broadband methods.


Fiber Broadband can Eliminate the North American Rural Digital Divide