Broadband Access and Regulation

Texas is proving that tech-neutral, efficient broadband deployment can close the digital divide—on budget and with surplus funds to boost affordability.

ITIF’s spring seminar course explores core emerging technologies and issues that are reshaping our world and, in the process, creating public policy challenges and opportunities. The course is open to congressional and federal staff only.

Watch now for a panel discussion featuring submarine cable owners and operators as they delve into the past, present, and future of this essential industry. Learn about the technological advances, policy challenges, and global implications shaping the world beneath the waves.

The United States has spent decades and billions of dollars to achieve universal broadband access. Yet the digital divide continues because many Americans still face barriers to affordability or lag in digital literacy. It’s time for a bold rethinking of broadband policy to match today’s realities.

State broadband programs in Maine, New Mexico, and Texas are proving that LEO satellites can deliver fast, cost-effective internet to unserved areas for a fraction of the cost of fiber—offering a smarter way to close the digital divide.

NTIA should better include technologies like low-earth orbit satellites and fixed-wireless access in BEAD’s guidelines to reduce the amount spent on deployment so that funds can be repurposed to focus on more pressing causes of the digital divide.

Watch now for a virtual panel discussion with technology policy experts who highlighted and critiqued the most counterproductive tech policies of the past year, and considered how the incoming administration and Congress can turn the page.

The administration should reform the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program to stop favoring overly expensive fiber when LEO satellites could do the same job for less. Taking a technology-neutral approach to broadband deployment would save money that could be better spent on other causes of the digital divide.

Congress should address the digital divide by shifting the focus of U.S. broadband policy from deployment subsidies to a targeted affordability program for low-income households.

Congress should create a more targeted and durable Affordable Connectivity Program by aligning funding priorities with the remaining causes of the digital divide. By prioritizing affordability rather than deployment, the new program can connect low-income households without new federal spending.