How COVID-19 is proving the urgency of delivering universal broadband

The COVID-19 pandemic has put the consequences of America’s “digital divide” on full display. This dire situation makes clear the need for universal rural broadband. To finally deliver on this promise, we need an effort on the scale of the Rural Electrification Act (REA), passed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the depths of the Depression to power farms and small towns out of poverty. We must pass a 21st century version of that act, one that equips local communities with the resources they need to bring connectivity to the last mile of rural America. 

If there was ever a time for a new and innovative approach to democratizing rural broadband, that time would be now. Here’s two steps to get it done: First, we need to make it easier to build new fiber networks. Second, we need to set up models to de-risk deployment for taxpayers and small-town communities. Following the broadband model used in the state of Vermont, we should authorize “Communications Union Districts” that enable communities to access municipal bonds for financing the broadband buildout, without putting taxpayers at risk.

[Matt Dunne is the founder and executive director of the Center on Rural Innovation.]