Internet Access for All Americans

The rapid development of an effective vaccine – coupled with the hope of a rapid deployment – means there is more than just a glimmer of light at the end of this tunnel. But even when the worst of the COVID crisis passes, it’s clear that the pandemic has fundamentally changed our behaviors, including how our children learn.

Central to this behavioral shift in learning is access to high-speed internet connectivity. 2020 proved that fast, reliable access to the internet is a necessity. But millions of Americans, including an estimated 17 million children, are unable to take advantage of high-speed broadband, either because the infrastructure is cost-prohibitive to deploy where they live or because families have to make difficult decisions about where to spend their money.

These mainly rural and low-income households face obvious disadvantages in a world that increasingly values digital access more than physical location. Especially alarming is how this digital disparity is worsening the homework gap that already exists for low-income students, students in rural areas and students of color. Without changes, these young people fall further behind.

Denying them the means to online learning now will make it harder for many to participate in a workforce already becoming more decentralized, online and virtual.

What Can Be Done?

AT&T has stepped up efforts to connect students and close the digital divide. For example, we offer discounted unlimited wireless data plans to more than 135,000 public and private schools and announced a $10 million commitment to Connected Nation to provide free internet connectivity and devices to underserved communities across the country. Learn more [here].

But private industry alone can only do so much. To succeed, the Federal government has an important role.

Fortunately, a bipartisan consensus has emerged that makes the availability and affordability of broadband a national priority. Congress must take a few steps to make broadband available and affordable for those Americans on the wrong side of this divide, and we look forward to working with industry partners, the new administration and Congress to help close the gap together.

Expanding Accessibility

Congress took a big step last month by appropriating $65 million for the Federal Communications Commission to implement more accurate broadband mapping. For rural areas, this will help identify with geographic precision where gaps in broadband coverage exist. In many cases, these gaps exist because of expense. Congress can and should rethink its subsidy structure to incentivize the necessary private investment. And because it’s not feasible to run fiber to every remote location, Congress should support deployment of a mix of technologies including wireless and satellite.

Ensuring Affordability

For low-income households, it’s critical for Congress to modernize the FCC’s Lifeline program – a program that began as a subsidy for the land-line telephone – to include high-speed broadband. It should increase monthly support to enable more families to pay for broadband. It should provide this subsidy directly to the families that need it, and it should make this support sustainable through direct appropriations. That means replacing the existing Lifeline funding mechanism that depends on excise taxes on land-line phone use – a rapidly shrinking revenue source.

These are rational, cost-effective steps that will help us close the digital divide and make broadband more accessible, affordable and sustainable. It’s in our national interest and deserves Washington’s full support.

I had the opportunity last month to talk about these issues with Sal Khan, founder and CEO of Khan Academy. You can watch that [here].