Digital Disconnect

Before the pandemic, broadband and high-speed Internet already ran much of our modern lives. Nevertheless, during the last months, the world is facing one of the fastest organizational transformations in history. COVID-19 has acted as an accelerator to improve access to e-learning, services, commerce, and daily interactions that require a high-speed Internet connection. During the COVID-19 era, this new reality has moved toward an intensive use of the Internet, where not everyone has the same chances. 

Since the crisis continues and pandemics of this type will become more common, thousands of Americans are at risk of being left behind because of this technological metamorphosis. We must focus on the need for broadband connectivity in the US to support the digital divide's most vulnerable population. 

The digital divide in the US

When talking about the digital divide, we should realize that this concept has changed over time. Following Scheerder (2017), we recognize those difficulties stemmed from the connectivity and skills required to use Information Communications Technology (ICT). Therefore, the effects of the digital divide phenomenon directly influence socio-economic inequalities and diverse activities worldwide. Thus, the digital divide leads to economic inequality, particularly for younger people and ethnic minorities, who are excluded from the labor market and lack the educational opportunities to access an increasingly digitized world.

In the particular case of the US, the digital divide is not a new phenomenon. Even though the US is a leading developed economy on ICT, there are still too many parts where a broadband connection is unavailable. Regarding Internet-access, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) believes that 97% of Americans have access to high-speed fixed service in urban areas, compared with 65% in rural areas and 60% of access on Tribal lands. All told, nearly 30 million Americans cannot reap the benefits of the digital age.

Tricky numbers

According to a recent study of the FCC (2020), the US has considerably advanced and increased Americans' numbers with broadband access for a third consecutive year. However, as FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks noted, there is a substantiality by comparing broadband deployment in one year against their deployments in prior years to measure "progress" (BIBS, 2020). Starks alleged that the company "Barrier Free" claimed to have covered gigabit speeds going to 62 million people when really, it has 25 megabit speeds at best going to a few thousand Americans (Codewey, 2019).  

So, why is this case so relevant? The alleged statistical misrepresentation of "Barrier Free" not only questions the accuracy of previous reports but also warns of possible untrustworthy procedures and transparency of an institution such as the FCC during the Trump administration. The possibility of having a fraudulent publication that was not well supervised can put millions of households at risk in rural and urban communities by providing significant distortion of real access to high-speed service in the US. Currently, the FCC has issued a Notice of Apparent Liability and proposed that Barrier Communications Corporation ("BarrierFree") pay a $163,912 fine for its failure to file the agency's Form 477 data on broadband deployment and for submitting incorrect data (Marashlian, 2020). 

Closing the gap

In rural areas, the lack of Internet access and broadband connectivity impacts education attainment, workforce opportunities, economic growth, access to modern healthcare, among other socio-economic factors. There is no magic formula for closing the digital divide. However, some studies suggest that 5G represents a new tool for supporting both fixed and mobile broadband that can be useful to connect rural communities to the rest of society (Linder, 2020). Other studies argue that high data and 5G implementation waves (mmWave) has the inherent characteristic that they do not travel over long distances from a technical perspective.

As a result, closing the broadband gap has proved tricky because private Internet providers often don't have financial incentives to build broadband infrastructure over long distances in sparsely populated areas. However, recent scientific studies suggest a more comprehensive approach to address this problem. Some experts mention we need a bottom-up approach that identifies the challenges of rural connectivity and propose a novel network architecture that deals explicitly with these challenges and helps connect the unconnected. 

Connecting the unconnected

Pranav Jha, a Senior Research Scientist at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, claims that there are no real commercial reasons for telecom operators to target rural areas. Like many other countries, rural zones tend to be remote and difficult to access in the US. Also, there is a scarcity of power that makes it almost impossible to ease manageability. So what is the option? The key, according to Pranav, is to provide fixed broadband with a 5G frugal architecture. Pranav's proposal relies on using a large coverage area cell to provide ubiquitous connectivity. In other words, using small cells or Wi-Fi hotspots that can be access points for high-speed data connectivity (Khaturia et al., 2020).

Following the bottom-up approach, we need to think outside the box to close the digital divide gap. As a result, being actively involved in the program ConnectHomeUSA, means that we should first recognize that there is a lot to do, but we are moving forward to achieve it. As a non-profit movement, through ConnectHomeUSA (2020), we help residents get connected at home and provide access to digital literacy and educational content.

Broadband policy

COVID-19 has revealed a relationship between poverty, geography, education, and other variables where the most vulnerable groups are the most affected. Diverse studies have shown that lack of access to doctors, insurance, nutritious food, and safe workspaces, among other areas, can all contribute to the persistent and growing health disparities impacting social minorities, especially African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans (Lee and Yaraghi, 2020). For all those reasons, the pandemic should be useful to urge policymakers, companies, and civil society to shift the conversation toward productive gap filling, rather than continuing the tired old debates around issues such as net neutrality and municipal broadband (Brake, 2020). 

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected both developed and underdeveloped economies. Digital solutions in health, education, work, commerce, and many other daily activities are playing a predominant role in keeping the socio-economic dynamics. Closing the gap and reducing the digitally connected demands immediate actions. It requires a vision for the future where decision-makers should collaborate with the scientists, civil society specialists, companies, and governments altogether.

Sources:

BIBS (Benton Institute for Broadband & Society). 2020. Daily Digest 8/20/2020 (FCC Launches Broadband Deployment Study). URL: https://www.benton.org/newsletter/daily-digest-8202020-fcc-launches-broadband-deployment-study

Brake, D. 2020. Lessons From the Pandemic: Broadband Policy After COVID-19. Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. URL: https://itif.org/publications/2020/07/13/lessons-pandemic-broadband-policy-after-covid-19

Coldeway,D. 2020. FCC' looking into' reported error throwing broadband deployment numbers by millions. TechCrunch. URL: https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/07/fcc-looking-into-reported-error-throwing-broadband-deployment-numbers-off-by-millions/

ConnectHomeUSA.2020. About Us. URL: https://connecthomeusa.org/

FCC (Federal Communications Commission). 2020. 2020 Broadband Deployment Report. URL: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-50A1.pdf

Hidalgo, A., Gabaly, S., Morales-Alonso, G. and Urue?a, A. 2020. The digital divide in light of sustainable development: An approach through advanced machine learning techniques. Technological Forecasting & Social Change.

Khaturia, M., Jha, P. and Karandikar, A. 2020. Connecting the Unconnected: Toward Frugal 5G Network Architecture and Standardization. IEEE Communications Standards Magazine. 

Lee, N. and Yaraghi, N. 2020. How to make telehealth more permanent after COVID-19. URL: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2020/09/04/how-to-make-telehealth-more-permanent-after-covid-19/

Linder, P. 2020. Putting the spotlight on 5G in rural áreas. Ericsson. URL: https://www.ericsson.com/en/blog/2020/7/5g-in-rural-areas-spotlight

Marashlian, J. 2020. FCC Enforcement Bureau Proposes $163,912 Fine Against Internet Service Provider for Failure to File Form 477 and Inaccurate Data. Marashlian & Donahue. URL: https://commlawgroup.com/2020/fcc-enforcement-bureau-proposes-163912-fine-against-internet-service-provider-for-failure-to-file-form-477-and-inaccurate-data/

Scheerder, A., Deursen, A. and Dijk, J. 2020. Determinants of Internet skills, uses and outcomes. A systematic review of the second- and third-level digital divide. Telematics and Informatics.