Jeff Wiggins, a resident of Columbus, Ohio, is on a quest to find an internet connection. Unfortunately, he is one of over 40 million Americans who do not have access to the internet. As the US responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, many citizens are unable to access work, attend school, or get basic necessities from home. It’s a problem that has troubled cities and towns, both big and small in the US for years, with little momentum toward a solution until now.
Across the country, rural areas are expanding broadband internet access, while cities work to make connecting more affordable for those who have been left behind. These are problems that have existed for a long time, but what this crisis has done is fast-forward us into a broadband future. Crises change society, and the opportunity here is to recognize that broadband is absolutely essential.
In Ohio, like in much of the US, getting people connected breaks down broadly into two buckets. One requires bringing internet access to places it’s never been before, and the other is making service more affordable where it already exists. The problems are different, so the solutions are too. In rural areas, solutions often come out of small, local efforts.
Meanwhile, the issue in America’s big cities is most often a matter of making internet subscriptions affordable and accessible. In Detroit, a city with one of the sharpest digital divides in the country, many students were left adrift after being required to attend class from home. But in facing this challenge, the community saw an opportunity to launch a response that would lead to permanent connections.
Pamela Moore leads the Detroit Public Schools Foundation, which in June, began sending out 51,000 computer tablets, one for every public school student in the district. The devices come with a six-month internet plan and technical support. After six months, families will be transitioned to low-cost internet plans that are available in the city of Detroit. If a family says that they cannot afford that plan, Detroit Public Schools Community District is willing to cover that cost.
In American history, there are all sorts of services we understand have to be available to everybody. Congress creating the Post Office so everybody could communicate by mail, public education so everybody could go to K-12 school. These are commonplace ways to proceed in American history, but we haven’t brought that ethos to broadband.
The digital divide affects internet service providers because they should be providing the internet to everyone, but they are not doing that because they can’t make enough money from it. Hence, the government should step in and ensure everyone is provided with internet access.