Every Floridian deserves access to digital opportunity

With over $1.1 billion in federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program funds coming to Florida, we face the historic opportunity to ensure that every resident has access to reliable, high-speed internet. Whether we reach this goal will depend on the choices we make with these investments.

Lacking access to the internet isn’t just a nuisance in today’s digital-first world; it robs families and loved ones of critical economic, educational, and social opportunities. That’s the unfortunate reality for the 11% of households in our state still without access to broadband internet. These statistics are even more alarming when we dig into the disaggregated data, which shows more than 1 in 5 households remain disconnected across 17 of Florida’s 67 counties.

Thanks to the hundreds of millions in Broadband Opportunity Program funding distributed across Florida, we have made significant strides expanding connectivity these past few years. Statewide access to connectivity has increased 10 percentage points between 2017 (78.6%) and 2022 (88.8%). Further investments from the BEAD program will allow us to make even more progress to reach every still-unserved corner of our state.

This broadband gap has profound real-life implications for residents that were made especially clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students with broadband access transitioned to online learning, while their unconnected counterparts were shut out of virtual classrooms. Elderly residents with broadband access moved in-person health appointments online, while those unconnected were left without critical lifelines to health care.

Our state leaders must make wise choices to close the digital divide most effectively.

First and foremost, this means prioritizing unserved areas. Instead of siphoning money away to communities that already have internet access – or are scheduled to receive service – we must focus on bringing connectivity to areas without any access.

This also means breaking down the policy and regulatory obstacles that stand in the way of efficient broadband deployment. Internet service providers (ISPs) already face numerous obstacles when building out networks to unserved, rural communities. They range from geographic and terrain challenges to heavy-handed contracting rules and operational barriers. We won’t be able to connect all Floridians without clearing obstacles to speed up this critical work.

Finally, this means working with ISPs that have the proven technical, financial and managerial expertise to deploy broadband to rural areas on-budget and on-time. One clear recipe for success already working in hundreds of communities across the state are public-private partnerships, which leverage the ISPs’ expertise in not only building but maintaining and upgrading networks.

A fully connected Florida is finally within reach. Let’s not waste this historic opportunity.

GETTY IMAGES Officials said increasing internet access in rural areas is important for many reasons, including support for businesses, students and an increase in people working from home.