Right now, close to half of the U.S. population is not using the internet at broadband speeds, either because broadband internet infrastructure does not reach them, they can’t afford the service, or they don’t have the skills or knowledge to use it. Given how the pandemic has made high-speed internet access an essential utility, this ought to be unacceptable in the birthplace of the internet.
How Biden’s “Internet for All” Initiative Can Actually Fulfill Its Mission
The administration’s big investment in expanding broadband access faces three major challenges.
July 12, 2022
Artur Debat/Getty Images
Summary.
Right now, half of Americans aren’t using broadband internet. In an effort to close this digital divide, the Biden administration has launched the Internet for All initiative: a massive investment of funds to expand access to high-speed internet in the world’s most valuable and second most evolved digital economy. However, the initiative faces three problems: the funding prioritizes covering miles over covering people; it lacks a national strategy and coordination framework, and many execution roadblocks will get in the way.