Op-Ed

Over the last two years, in California and across the country, billions of public dollars have been allocated to end the digital divide. The Digital Equity LA coalition, supported by the California Community Foundation (CCF) Digital Equity Initiative, has mobilized to ensure these investments are directed to the communities that need them most—those that have been historically marginalized and are disproportionately disconnected—and deployed in support of the most effective long-term solutions.

An explosive report from nonprofit journalism outlet The Markup analyzed data on internet speeds and pricing in 38 US cities and found that AT&T, Verizon, EarthLink, and CenturyLink all disproportionately offered lower-income and less-white neighborhoods slower internet for the same price that nearby whiter, wealthier neighborhoods paid for faster speeds.

In 2020, the Federal Communications Commission committed to providing Starlink, a satellite internet network operating in 40 countries by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, with $885.5 million to expand broadband in unserved rural areas of the United States. But in August 2022, the FCC announced with almost no explanation that Starlink would receive nothing.

In January 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which proposed requiring internet service providers to display broadband consumer disclosure labels prominently at the point of sale.

In the modern world, high-speed internet access has become an essential utility, just like water, gas and electricity. All those living on the Cherokee Nation Reservation need the ability to participate in the digital economy. Many Americans now take for granted services like telehealth, remote work and access to the vast amount of information and resources for learning and communication online. Unfortunately, broadband access on tribal reservations has badly lagged behind the rest of the country.

Something is missing from our lives, and from our technology. The goal of consumer tech development used to be pretty simple: design and build something of value to people, giving them a reason to buy it. There has been a sea change in the entire model for innovation and the incentives that drive it. Why settle for a single profit-taking transaction for the company when you can instead design a product that will extract a monetizable data stream from every buyer, returning revenue to the company for years?

From an unnamed Comcast public relations officer: The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) program is an important opportunity to connect more Americans to broadband than ever before and to close the digital divide, and we’ve been working hard to get the word out locally. The programs were implemented with incredible speed by both the government and private companies, and while some bumps in the road were expected, we are working to address issues as soon as possible. We have worked consistently to simplify the processes for consumers while keeping the proper checks and balances in place.

Comcast’s entry-level internet service was not fast enough for Lia Moniz’s two schoolkids, so she upgraded to a faster connection that costs her more than $80 a month. A new Comcast offer, Internet Essentials Plus (IEP), has the potential to make Moniz’s internet free. IEP has the most bang for the buck. It offers speeds up to 100 megabits per second downstream and 10 megabits up, with free cable modem and Wi-Fi hot spot rental, for $29.95 a month. This is covered by the $30 Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) benefit, so on the bottom line, it’s free.

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

Should network usage fees be imposed on content and application providers to support internet infrastructure? New research from Analysys Mason shows such a mandate would be harmful to end users and the global internet ecosystem.