Incentives essential to bridge broadband divide
Like all Virginians, I am hopeful for 2021. But, as an elected official, I know that the key to a better new year requires diligence and hard work to ensure that we put ourselves in a position to succeed.
In order to prosper in today’s global and technologically advanced world, it is critical that all Virginians have access to high-speed Internet connectivity.
Sadly however, too many of our neighbors lack access to the technology that allows us to attend school, conduct business, and casually surf the internet at high speeds.
Residents without access to broadband live in all areas of the commonwealth, both rural and urban, and the broadband gap is especially striking in our lower-income and rural communities — a fact made painfully clear during the COVID19 pandemic.
As the mayor of Newport News, I am committed to ending this disparity in my hometown and also the commonwealth.
The reason broadband technology is not equitably available throughout Virginia is because of the high costs associated with building the needed infrastructure that supplies this critical and essential service. This is particularly true for the deployment of fiberoptic cables in rural communities that are less populated.
Regrettably, the pandemic has only made this situation worse. For those families forced to school their children at home, the lack of a high-speed internet connection only makes remote learning harder, less effective and leaves our children behind.
Communities of color have sadly experienced extreme challenges during the pandemic, which has only made the digital divide more pronounced. This tragic situation means we risk allowing many of our students of color to be less competitive compared to their better-connected peers.
To address this challenge for rural and low-income residents, and to ensure that all Virginians are connected to highspeed internet, I support federal, state and local policies that incentivize local electric companies to deploy needed broadband technology.
After all, these power companies are already connected to our rural and low-income communities.
As policy makers and elected officials, we should be focused on making it easier and more cost effective for companies to deploy critical fiberoptic networks to close the digital divide.
For example, I am looking forward to Gov. Ralph Northam signing Senate Bill 1413, which was sponsored by Sen. Jennifer Boysko of Herndon. This law makes a pilot program allowing Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power to enter into deals with the State Corporation Commission to provide broadband to unserved areas of the commonwealth. I applaud everyone who worked to make this happen.
Going forward, Virginia lawmakers must support policies that create dialog, cooperation and synergies between power companies and broadband providers — ensuring that electric utilities and internet providers work hand-in-glove to deploy broadband access for everyone, ensuring that everyone in our commonwealth wins — our children and our families.
Finally, an additional benefit to connecting all Virginians to broadband technology, is that it ensures disadvantaged communities are connected to the future of energy and a more advanced electric grid. These new technologies will enable residents to use electric power in smarter and more cost-effective ways and will also benefit the environment.
When we help our neighbors save money on their power bills, we reduce their energy burden, employ energy efficiency solutions and allow consumers to mitigate the causes of climate change — the latter of which has a disproportionate impact on communities of color and lower-income Americans. Completing these tasks is our duty, is sound public policy and is a best use of government resources.
I wish all Virginians a successful
2021 and look forward to working hard to improve the quality of life in our commonwealth.
I encourage all of my colleagues working in government to come together to initiate policies that promote greater and more equitable access to broadband technology.
McKinley Price is the mayor of