Rural Broadband: A National Mandate

We are learning many lessons from the coronavirus pandemic. One of the most important is not related to the virus but to our ability to function in the new digital environment. As schools close and classes move online not just at universities but at many public schools, we are witnessing the value of broadband access to our communities.

            The Industrial Revolution demanded the creation of a new communications infrastructure—Rural Free Delivery to keep our rural communities (and agricultural economy) vital, the national highway system to help get raw materials to factories and finished goods to market, radio and television to link us together as a community by giving us shared experiences. So, too, does the Information Revolution demand equal access to the Internet as a right of citizenship as work decentralizes and more professionals work from home. Broadband access is essential in this environment. Increasingly, communities that lack access lack the ability to survive in the new economy.

            This has become a stark reality in the coronavirus pandemic. In Pennsylvania, all public schools have been closed for two weeks. Many districts have closed their physical facilities and are using a variety of online resources to continue instruction during this period. However, in some districts, especially in rural areas, students don’t have access to broadband from home. These schools have had to simply close their doors, leaving students to be home-schooled by parents or, in some cases, to simply not have access education during this period.  

            The situation would also affect businesses that need to close to avoid their employees being exposed to the virus. Without bandwidth, employees are unable to work remotely.  They risk losing their jobs. Their employer risk losing business—and, ultimately, the community risks losing an employer and jobs for its citizens.

            In today’s world, broadband is not just a commercial service. It is a necessary part of the communications infrastructure that allows workers to live in a small community and still be gainfully employed. It is what allows small, rural communities to be vital in the global information society.  

            We need, at this point in the evolution of the new economy, the same kind of national vision for broadband that gave us the interstate highway system. I hope that both political parties will give voters their plans to achieve universal broadband as a resource that must be available to all citizens in the information age.