Lifeline is a good step, but let's keep going

[Commentary] We really need to make Internet affordable for all. Until we promote more successful publicly owned and managed internet infrastructure—or at the very least foster more competition among internet service providers—we’re just going to keep trying to subsidize our way out of unaffordable internet, and that doesn’t seem sustainable…. Yes, the Lifeline programs helps, and hopefully it will have ripple effects on broadband policy.

I commend the FCC and policy makers and members of the digital inclusion community like the NDIA for recognizing that the internet is as essential to life in America as the telephone. Yes, other low-cost internet options though big companies and mandated by the FCC also help. I look forward to seeing what other solutions government, nonprofit and business leaders come up with to help subsidize costs for some of our poorest residents. We'll be following along during the Twitter Town Hall on digital inclusion today to see how the conversation unfolds. But as we do so, let’s keep our eye on the prize and keep pushing beyond Lifeline-type mandates. Until there is more competition among service providers, or a shift toward publicly owned and managed ISPs, as a digital inclusion community we’ll be focusing on the trees, not the forest.