Questing for Universal Broadband Access: "... Governments at all levels have started placing a greater emphasis on adoption, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which not only laid bare the disparities of the digital divide, but redoubled society's reliance on broadband.".

• Author: Schwartzbach, Kevin
• Position: FRONTIER HORIZONS

UNIVERSAL broadband access has been a stated public goal of the U.S. since the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Yet, despite the Federal government having invested roughly $85,000,000,000 in pursuit of this goal just in the past 13 years, along with millions more from state governments, the U.S. does not have universal access and the digital divide--the gaps in access to, and use of, the Internet and other information technologies among certain groups of people--persists.

This shortfall in access is, in part, due to a key distinction between availability and adoption. Availability refers to broadband service being offered in a local community, while adoption is the rate of residential subscribership to high-speed Internet access. So, while many people have service in their area, that does not mean, for example, that that service is affordable to them.

With another $65,000,000,000 being allocated to broadband through the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IDA), it is important to understand why there is a gap between availability and adoption if governments are to leverage these funds effectively to finally achieve universal access and close the digital divide.

Roughly half of households that have not adopted broadband despite it being available in their area forego a subscription because they cannot afford it. However, there are several other common reasons for nonadoption, including a lack of awareness of the benefits of broadband, unfamiliarity with digital devices, and insufficient digital skills and digital literacy, which the American Library Association defines as "the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills." Collectively, these are sometimes referred to as "digital readiness."

Digital literacy includes basic skills such as using a keyboard and mouse, typing proficiency, and finding files on a computer. However, in today's work environment, digital literacy also entails learning how to use office productivity software such as Microsoft Office, learning how to use video conferencing software such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams, and understanding best practices for Internet safety and security, among other skills.

Broadband adoption and digital literacy are integral to workforce preparedness and development. An analysis by the Brookings Institution found that in 2016, 70% of jobs in the more than 500 occupations it examined (which comprises 90% of all jobs in the U.S.) require either a medium or high level of digital skills, a proportion that likely has gone up in the half-decade since. Jobs that incorporate these higher levels of digital content tend to pay more, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Moreover, using broadband enables job seekers to find jobs more easily and allows workers to telecommute.

Beyond workforce development, broadband adoption and digital literacy skills may play a role in...