There is no debating the impact of broadband connectivity upon a community. In today’s digital world, communities lacking speed-of-commerce connectivity miss out on basic economic, educational, and healthcare opportunities and resources, and often experience difficulty receiving essential information during emergencies. We live in a connected world, and the unconnected are being left behind at an alarming rate.
The California town of Newcastle (Placer County) was recently branded as “the town with the slowest internet in the U.S.” Despite it’s close proximity to the capital of the most innovative and technologically advanced state in the union, Newcastle is just one example of a digital divide exponentially increasing the gap between the haves and have-nots in California.
The article identified a number of federal and state programs aimed at “bridging the digital gap” in rural communities. California alone has 14 Broadband Consortiums funded by the California Public Utilities Commission to tackle the connectivity issue. These consortiums are doing good regional work, but would benefit from a coordinated effort led by the state with stated goals and measured outcomes.
In order to see any real progress in broadband deployment in California’s rural communities, the federal and state programs need to be restructured to require greater access to speed-of-commerce connectivity for public dollars invested, and funding needs to be redirected from incumbent providers to local governments, where individual communities have the ability to develop broadband strategic plans that appropriately address their unique needs. Rural communities need local control over their broadband destiny, and regulatory requirements need to be reconsidered to allow for small providers to provide services within these communities.
Connectivity is key to a community’s ability to prosper. Solutions to bridging the digital divide exist, and we need to work together to bring them forward.