The pandemic taught us broadband services are essential, and now, many digitized opportunities in remote work, distance learning and telemedicine have become ingrained parts of modern society. But not everyone is benefitting. People living in poverty or rural areas are more likely to lack broadband access, which is also one of the three common elements contributing to low-income zip codes - along with paying over 30% of income for rent and lacking a higher-level degree. Meanwhile, broadband access would enable solutions in all three.
As we breach AI, automation and the metaverse, higher speeds will define the future of work, play and human development. The government is deploying billions of dollars for broadband buildouts and digital equity, and states are already developing action plans to achieve their goals by 2028. Now, we need to realize the true definition of equal access to broadband if we hope to close the digital divide for good and create an equal future.
Remote work supports more families and boosts economies
Remote work is here to stay, but along with increasing home technology needs, the demands on home internet have also risen. Communities with access to high-speed broadband of 1 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) have lower unemployment rates than those without it. As we move into a digital world, being a high-performance remote employee will increasingly come down to speed. It takes a lot of speed to effectively use video, upload, download and collaborate with online teams. Without access to the right networks, companies will likely pass over people in unserved areas for good remote jobs.
Already, people without broadband access are likely living in areas with few job options. Add in a bus ticket, Uber or monthly car payment over a long commute, and their potential earnings are slashed. Gas prices are ridiculously high, but childcare costs are higher, and too many expenses in getting a job can make it impossible to support a family. Meanwhile, people with high-speed broadband can do their job from home, saving time and money and choosing from opportunities around the world. With equally competitive speeds everywhere, we not only level the playing field for more people to participate — we power greater innovation.
Education is moving to the next frontier
From homeschooling to distance learning or getting a college degree online, broadband connects people to a continuum of better education. More children could take specialty classes that may not exist in their local community, and schools equipped with high speeds could introduce more students to a greater selection of careers they may otherwise have no access to. From virtual field trips to visiting guest speakers, with all the potential for VR and AR to enhance the classroom, broadband’s role in education will only grow.
However, those without the speeds needed to support those opportunities will struggle to keep up. As we saw during COVID-19, the struggles of remote learning during the pandemic hit children and families in areas of poverty the worst, and many rural and low-income students fell far behind. Unless we equip everyone with the same speeds needed to support technologies making leaps in education, we’re just going to end up with a more modern version of the same digital divide.
Telehealth lets more people prioritize health
Broadband supports remote clinical services from home through telemedicine and the broader area of telehealth, which extends to non-clinical services like provider training, administrative meetings and medical education. Access to good doctors and hospitals in rural areas is a major concern, but broadband enables rural professionals to consult with specialists from other hospitals and keep pace with technology and skills training. Some suggest that patients could receive over 20% of all office, outpatient and home health costs virtually, allowing them to speak with health experts from any location without having to travel and take time away from work to get there.
To equalize telehealth access, however, everyone needs speeds that support the effective and efficient transmission of data. A patient asking a doctor to evaluate an abrasion will need to stream high-definition video without glitches or buffering. For a doctor monitoring a patient’s vital signs, both sides will need very low latency to track that data in real-time. Larger hospitals require an estimated 100 Mbps to maintain simultaneous HD video streaming, remote monitoring and quick file transfers - speeds nearly half of the country’s rural regions lack. With technology like IoT and AI set to advance the next generation of healthcare, we should ensure all areas are equally equipped with the quality of broadband needed to support it.
Broadband enables life
We’re beyond the question of whether or not people can get by without broadband. Now, it’s a matter of how much it can be leveraged to enable a better life. Between work, health, education and entertainment, broadband has become indispensable. Even entering a recession, 2022 survey data indicates consumers rank internet service fifth in bill importance, behind housing payments, power, gas, credit cards, and health insurance. That priority jumps to third (behind only housing and utilities) in homes with annual household incomes between $10,000 and $24,999 - those most likely to be in economic distress.
The government has all the right intentions in funding broadband access to the areas that need it, but without equality in speed, we risk keeping the digital divide open. Installing lower speed, lower reliability and higher latency networks is setting people in those areas up to fail. In 2021, the Fiber Broadband Association found that a household of four required 131/73 Mbps of bandwidth. By 2030, they expect that need to be 2,141/2,044 Mbps. Network buildouts of “minimally acceptable speeds” (a mere 25/3 Mbps) will quickly require expensive upgrades to keep pace as technology brings on bigger requirements, and those without will simply be left behind.
We need more than broadband minimums to make this infrastructure investment last and equalize society. First, the government needs to take a proactive approach like the UK has done to ensure eligible households are aware of affordability benefits. Then, as states gear up to apply for federal funds, they need to put their money where their future is and invest in giving their people the speeds required to compete in today’s digital economy. To bring us into a new era in innovation where everyone has access to a level playing field, we need true digital equality and high-speed broadband for all.
