Groups Launch Broadband Connects America Coalition to End Rural Digital Divide

Public Knowledge joined 17 other organizations to form the Broadband Connects America coalition. The Coalition is comprised of a wide range of consumer, rural, and social justice organizations committed to closing the digital divide. Coinciding with today’s launch, Broadband Connects America released the Principles to Connect Rural America -- five principles to serve as a foundation for policymakers and advocates to promote policies that work to bring broadband to millions of rural Americans. Over 30 percent of rural Americans do not have access to broadband at home -- a staggering amount when compared to the four percent of urban Americans who can’t get access. The rural digital divide is even more troubling for rural Americans of color; a recent study by Free Press shows that 27 percent of people of color who live in rural America do not have access to the internet at home. And even when rural Americans do have access to broadband connections, the service is often unreliable.Restoring net neutrality is essential to closing the rural digital divide.Deployment should be focused on achieving tangible universal service to all rural Americans rather than allocated based on profit per population density.Funding should be simple and allocated directly to infrastructure needs, not directly to last-mile carriers.Closing the rural digital divide will require a combination approach that reflects the complexity of the challenges of deploying broadband to rural America.