The pandemic exposed the gaps in the U.S. broadband infrastructure.
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the weaknesses of the U.S. broadband infrastructure — a problem that hit schoolchildren especially hard. Millions of them had to struggle through online learning with little internet access, or none at all.
The compromise infrastructure package announced last month by a bipartisan Senate committee and supported by President Joe Biden includes $65 billion for much-needed broadband expansion. That would help solve the problem, but gaps would remain.
In wide swaths of the U.S., many children live in households without internet access at home; in some places the number exceeds 50%. Among those that have access, download speeds often do not meet the Federal Communication Commission’s minimum standard for broadband, defined as download speeds of 25 megabits per second and upload speeds of 3 mbps.
Bloomberg Opinion
By Andrea Gabor
July 9, 2021, 4:00 AM PDT