Digital Divide

The case for internet access as a human right remains a hotly debated subject. However, in the post-pandemic world, it’s one that is becoming increasingly skewed toward the affirmative. Data Reportal reports that 63 percent of the world uses the internet daily. When internet access is a requirement of functionality in the modern world, when does it become a human right? As the world has exited the stages of lockdowns and quarantines, the internet has remained in the spotlight.

In March 2010, Google Fiber burst onto the Internet provider scene, offering cities the promise of high-speed broadband service. That promise, however, became an increasingly complicated proposition that eventually forced the company to pause expansion efforts in 2016. When Google Fiber first launched, it offered cities Internet that reached speeds up to 1 gigabit per second. To put this into perspective, the average household in the US has an Internet connection of just under 20 megabits per second (Mbps), according to Lifewire. Typical high-speed service ranges between 25 and 75 Mbps.

Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants in a given location could go sideways because of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)’s decision to declare facility-based wireless technologies that use licensed spectrum to be considered as a reliable technology that is eligible for BEAD grants. I can foresee two different problems that might result from this decision.

Gov Roy Cooper (D-NC) announced that more than 13,000 households and 582 businesses across North Carolina are set to receive access to high-speed internet thanks to more than $30.8 million in grants. The NC Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) awarded the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grants to expand broadband infrastructure in the state.

Federal and state funds will be used to expand access to high speed Internet in underserved areas of Mower County (MN). While it's getting better, there is still work to do in getting high-speed Internet to all corners of the county.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration awarded the Ione Band of Miwok Indians $459,000 through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. The Ione Band of Miwok Indians will use the grant to fund a study to develop a comprehensive high-speed internet infrastructure deployment plan encompassing Tribal Lands in rural Amador County, California. The Tribe intends to focus its plan on needs and gaps associated with its newly acquired 2.5 GHz license from the FCC.

The irony — and frustration — of Cleveland’s status as one of the least-connected cities in the country is that we are home to a number of the early digital inclusion leaders that helped to put the issue on the national stage. So, why haven’t we made more progress towards digital equity? The answer is leadership, and the opportunity to reverse this trend is now.

This paper presents a history of the digital divide, major steps in closing it, and how we can continue expanding access to transform lives for communities of color. To close the digital divide, policymakers should focus on: 1) further expanding access, 2) increasing adoption, and 3) encouraging skill development.

Several small broadband providers are having trouble navigating the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Care Program (ACP). They are wondering if they should drop their participation. There is no one major specific complaint about the administration of the program but a string of problems. The ACP rules are overly complex. There doesn’t seem to be any training available to providers joining the program. The ACP system returns unhelpful error messages when something doesn’t work. Why are these kinds of issues problematic for smaller providers?