Many people with Internet problems are wondering how much of a dent the infrastructure bill's $65 billion for broadband will put into the digital divide. The bill's broadband section features $42 billion in grants to states for broadband infrastructure and about $14 billion to extend the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) for low-income citizens. While the infrastructure funding "should largely resolve the challenge of people not having a network at their home,” according to Christopher Mitchell from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, “we will still have tens of millions of Americans who cannot afford it.” Even with the $14 billion to address broadband affordability, Mitchell said a lot of it may end up with organizations that have monopolies on portions of the Internet market. Antonio Martinez, executive director of the Colorado Broadband Office, is a huge advocate for extending EBB for low-income families through the bill. Although the extension will decrease the program’s monthly Internet bill discount from $50 to $30, Martinez explained that legislators have made the discount “lower so that more people can take advantage.” Mitchell, on the other hand, would have liked the bill to address affordability in rural areas by including a funding preference for cooperatives. Concerning what they would have liked to see in the bill, Martinez mentioned that broadband isn’t a regulated utility. If the goal is to make the Internet more accessible, he said there should be a regulatory structure that is enforceable across all 50 states.

Of the $65 billion that the infrastructure bill allocates for broadband projects, $14.20 billion is set aside for the establishment of the Affordable Connectivity Fund. The fund is an extension and reworking of the existing $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) Program, a subsidy program established during the pandemic to help low-income households and Americans laid off during the pandemic stay connected to the internet. While the EBB was seen as temporary, the new fund is seen as more indefinite. Policy experts agree a longer-term broadband subsidy program will be a boon to consumers, but the differences between the original benefit program and the new connectivity fund — both in terms of requirements around eligibility and promotional outreach — mean the new fund could have a greater impact on operators. Also unclear are the effects of the new subsidy program on existing low-income internet plans from broadband providers. The Affordable Connectivity Fund gives the private sector new opportunities to find a more competitive marketplace for their services, according to Brookings senior fellow Nicol Turner Lee; still, Congress needs to ensure that any low-income programs or offerings do not turn into "low-income alternatives" that push consumers into second-class tiers of internet access.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, T-Mobile wrangled additional 600 MHz spectrum from a number of companies and from unused spectrum held by the Federal Communications Commission to bolster its capacity for Americans during a crisis. On July 27, T-Mobile filed a sixth application with the FCC for an extension until November 8, 2021 of its special temporary authority to continue using some spectrum in the 600 MHz band that has not been assigned. T-Mobile said in its filing, “Grant of this request is in the public interest because it will allow consumers and businesses to continue to benefit from the additional capacity that the additional spectrum provides.” It said this capacity is needed more than ever because people’s “life and work patterns produced by the pandemic” have permanently shifted. “This relief can be provided by simply permitting otherwise unused spectrum – for which there are no current plans for licensing – to continue to serve the public,” stated T-Mobile. The company said that use of 600 MHz spectrum is particularly important along covered US-Mexico border areas because there have been interference issues in its 700 MHz band due to Mexico’s use of that spectrum.