Universal broadband now
Back in 2009, amid a brutal recession, Congress passed a stimulus package that included a directive to the Federal Communications Commission to develop a plan to bring broadband internet service to everyone in the country.
It hasn’t happened.
Fights are still going on in Washington over internet access and funding for it. Billions of dollars are riding on this. But you ought to ask: Just how much does this need to cost?
You won’t find that answer in the FCC’S 311-page 2019 progress report. It estimates that 93.5 percent of the population had access to high-speed internet. Sounds good, except that it means 21 million Americans don’t have it. The geographical disparities are apparent: In rural areas, coverage was only 73.6 percent, while it was more than 98 percent in urban areas. But the pandemic has revealed an income disparity, as well: Even in wired cities, many children live in homes that can’t afford broadband service, so they’re unable to “attend” online classes.
Broadband Now, a website that gathers internet access data and provider information, reports that more than 98 percent of New York residents have access to a broadband, leaving 307,000 people without it. The state has a $500 million broadband initiative in the works, along with $170 million in federal money. And state officials are fighting for a share of another $20 billion available nationwide — money that the FCC says shouldn’t go to any of the 30 states that already have received federal broadband funds.
The money that New York already has access to amounts to more than $2,100 per person. So there’s the question, again: How much does it take to extend broadband cable — even in rural areas, especially considering that each house that’s wired is likely to become a permanent customer? Yet internet companies seem hesitant; Charter Communications, as part of its acquisition of Time Warner, promised to extend broadband to more homes, only to have the state accuse it of not following through and even gaming the numbers. Threatened with being ordered to give up its business in the state, Charter promised to provide broadband to 145,000 upstate customers.
With all the money f loating around, and the goal of universal broadband still unrealized, this is the time for states and the federal government to better define the roadmap to what ought not to be a distant future. It should include not just access but affordability. If private enterprise can’t provide that, government should look to use some of all those billions of dollars to support nonprofit community broadband projects.
After more than a decade, Americans couldn’t be blamed for wondering if the promise of universal broadband has become more valuable as a political talking point than as a genuine goal. It’s time to tell the investors in this undertaking — the taxpaying public — exactly how and when those promises will become reality.