Uncapped Fiber Fixation Can’t Close the Digital Divide

As states weigh how to reform their Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) programs, they face a stark and urgent tradeoff: Spend marginal dollars on reaching the last few unserved homes with fiber—or use those same dollars to help far more Americans actually adopt broadband. That tradeoff must be informed by three key facts:

• Lack of deployment accounts for just 3 percent of the digital divide.
• Adoption issues—such as lack of interest or affordability—account for 71 percent.
• Every BEAD dollar can be used for either deployment or adoption support—but not both.