Hill, The

People in need don’t want a handout; they want a hand-up that will enable them to improve their circumstances and lead more productive, successful lives. The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is giving workers, students, and families the hand-up they need to compete in the connected 21st-century digital economy.

Digital inclusion and equity challenges will likely not go away until a large number of people demand change in the marketplace—and in policymaking—to make essential information and communication technologies not only available, affordable and usable, but also safe. What seems to be lacking is support for a visible social movement that complements these types of education, advocacy and networking efforts.

With virtually unlimited bandwidth, fiber optic connectivity is the fastest, most reliable, and most innovative solution for bridging the digital divide. Other options, like fixed wireless access, may be faster to deploy but require more upkeep, have limited capabilities, and require substantial new investment in a relatively short period.

The Federal Communications Commission will unveil the first draft of new, dramatically improved national broadband availability maps.

In 2021, Congress and the administration agreed upon a bipartisan approach to bridging differences in digital investment and delivery. But now, even before a single dollar of the bill’s rural broadband deployment funding has gone out the door, governors in both red and blue states are rushing to pour tax dollars into an entirely different strategy they hope will solve the same problem, and a new Senate bill proposes to potentially spend billions more replicating these state initiatives nationwide. Even for Washington, DC, this bipartisan rush to ramp funding for “middle mile” networks is a

We’ve all been told to put more fiber in our diets. But we also know what happens with too much fiber in your diet. It isn’t pretty. The same is true for broadband policy. As US policymakers at every level of government look to spend tens of billions of dollars to connect Americans to high-speed internet, aka broadband, they are far too focused on using a single technology to get the job done: fiber optic cable.

When I launched Broadcom in the early 1990s with the goal of revolutionizing digital connectivity, it was necessary to work closely with governments around the world, starting with cable set-top boxes.