Don't Ignore Urban Poor in Digital Divide Policy, Panelists Urge

There's much attention to an FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund vote Jan. 30 (see 2001230005). Speakers at a Next Century Cities conference Thursday urged policymakers not to neglect low-income urban and minority communities to address the digital divide. The event was closed to the media in-person, so we heard the webcast.

The rural vs. urban divide is a myth, said National Digital Inclusion Alliance Executive Director Angela Siefer. "There's no 'versus.' We must change it to, 'We're all in this together.'" She said digital redlining remains a problem in urban communities, as it was with previous communications technologies: "Let's be honest."

Broadband affordability plays a big role in lack of adoption in some urban areas, speakers said. Jonathan Sallet of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society said Congress should direct new Lifeline subsidies for fixed broadband. He noted about 90 percent of Lifeline subsidies go to mobile services, which can make it difficult to complete homework online or fill out job or mortgage applications. Siefer said Lifeline subsidies are too low to cover broadband services, and the additional money must come from somewhere, perhaps USF. "Let's have those hard discussions," she said. Tom Struble, technology and innovation manager at R Street Institute, said USF broadband subsidies should be higher.

Boosting broadband adoption in poor urban communities is harder than it appears and requires stakeholder involvement, said Joshua Edmonds, Detroit director-digital inclusion. When he was appointed and asked how much money the city had to address this, he was told "zero," he said. "The federal government clearly isn't prioritizing underserved cities." Edmonds doesn't begrudge federal broadband subsidies to rural areas, but "that doesn't mean we should get nothing." He has been in talks with his rural counterparts and said if Detroit can find ways to increase adoption, "we can take this anywhere" and share those practices in rural Michigan towns after infrastructure is expanded.

Some families without broadband at home use Wi-Fi at libraries or fast-food outlets. "E-rate is great" in theory, Edmonds said. "But libraries are closing in Detroit." He has pitched donors who focus strictly on healthcare matters by telling them the challenges of kids eating McDonald's meals daily.

When Fiat Chrysler expanded jobs in Detroit, it did online employment assessments, Edmonds said, a problem for potential workers who lacked home broadband and sometimes computers. "All the tech retail is in the suburbs," he said. "Folks wanted to know where they can get a computer." Comcast and AT&T "have been great advocates" and offer low-cost internet options, but they're often not at speeds considered broadband as defined by the FCC. "If it's not a high-speed network, I don't want to call it that," Edmonds said.

Earlier at the conference Thursday, FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said the commission should collect more data on broadband consumer pricing and put more focus on affordability.