Increasing America's broadband reach

A decade ago, an Internet connection capable of streaming a film or transmitting a video call was considered a luxury. Today, for much of the world, it is a necessity. President Barack Obama launched an initiative that he hopes will bring this necessity to more low-income American households. The program, called “ConnectHome”, is a partnership between government, tech companies and non-profit organisations that will provide low-cost broadband Internet, digital literacy programs and other resources to 275,000 public-housing developments in 28 locations across the country.

ConnectHome is the latest White House effort to bridge the so-called “digital divide”, the gap in IT access and know-how between the rich and the poor. America's digital divide has narrowed in recent years but is still large for a rich country. In 2013, for example, approximately 67 percent of households in the Bronx borough of New York City had a broadband internet subscription; 5 percent had an ultrahigh-speed fiber-optic connection. In Manhattan, just across the Harlem River, the figures were 80 percent and 9 percent, respectively. Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web, once famously tweeted "this is for everyone" of his creation. If ConnectHome proves successful, that sentiment -- for Americans at least -- may be on the way to becoming a reality.