How Fiber Internet Can Help Bridge the Digital Divide
Read more here about why organizations across the country are helping communities advocate for fiber internet access.
High-speed fiber internet is the best connectivity for our digital world, and more and more communities across the country are getting connected, opening opportunities for places to attract new talent and for people to live their best lives in their favorite locales. But like many social advances, fiber connectivity also highlights inequities in access to a life-changing technology — both between and within communities. Fortunately, organizations and communities are working on solutions to help bridge the digital divide.
In This Article
What Is the Digital Divide?
The digital divide refers to the gap between people who have reliable internet access and those who do not, often because of socioeconomic or geographic factors. The terms digital equity and digital divide refer not only to reliable internet access — essentially a basic utility in today’s world — but also access to devices and the digital literacy skills to use them.
What does digital inequity look like? It could be the rural community where internet service is slow and expensive, or not available at all. Or the single mom who takes her kids to a local coffee shop so they can use the free Wi-Fi to do their homework. Or even that family member who doesn’t know how to make an online appointment or purchase without help.
When considered this way, we can probably all think of someone in our lives facing a gap in digital access — maybe you yourself are struggling with less-than-ideal service in your community.
Bridging the digital divide is critical as as nearly every aspect of our lives has gone digital or is headed in that direction, from remote work and streaming entertainment to day-to-day activities like doctor’s appointments, job hunting and managing finances. That means you’re at a distinct disadvantage if you don’t have access to quality broadband.
How Can Communities Bridge the Digital Divide?
Organizations and initiatives dedicated to closing the digital divide have sprung up across the country. Connect Humanity, which helps mobilize community networks, municipal providers and social enterprises to close the digital divide, and Lit Communities, which helps guide communities through actionable plans to create local internet service providers (ISPs), are two organizations tackling the issue from different angles.
Both focus on creating change through local organizations, local solutions and helping residents advocate for fiber.
Lit Communities integrates community and stakeholder needs into their community assessment process to ensure strategic alignment with community anchor institutions like schools and nonprofits.
“We just wanted to connect the unconnected, no matter where you live,” says Brian Snider, CEO of Lit Communities. “I was frustrated with the redlining that was happening. And so we set out to build a model that would change it.”
Programs, Funding Promote Digital Equity
One example of a successful grassroots effort Connect Humanity helped fund is a project in Louisiana’s East Carroll Parish that will take the community from slow, unaffordable, barely operational service to high-speed fiber connectivity from Conexon by the end of 2023.
“It all began with a local coalition (Delta Interfaith). They went through the long road of learning about connectivity, different network modalities and technologies, then stumbled into some conversations with an ISP,” says Brian Vo of Connect Humanity. “They’ve been incredibly effective at getting state attention and state funds awarded to that ISP to build the network. What that created was also data to be able to say how many folks were not served. So that data piece is incredibly important with stories alongside that data.”
Snider commends the Connect99 outreach program in his home city of Birmingham for maximizing local awareness of the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which helps people across the country affordably access the best connectivity available to them.
In Chattanooga, the first city to offer gig internet in 2010 (now up to 25 gigs), the HCS EdConnect program provides free high-speed fiber internet service to students and families who are eligible for free and reduced lunch.
How To Advocate for Fiber in Your Community
If you want to bring fiber internet service to your community, making your city officials and other local leaders aware is a great first step.
“They can then bring it up at the state level, because there’s often state funding out there that can help,” Snider says. “Make noise about it — I’m on a network now I’m not crazy about, but I’ve sent a message to our homeowners association telling them what I do and why we should bring fiber in, because it would help the whole community.”
Quality internet service impacts so many parts of our lives today that investment and attention to the necessary infrastructure can positively impact nearly every other important cause, from health care to job creation.
“If you care about economic mobility and the essence of the American dream, digital equity should be a priority for the social, health and environmental outcomes,” Vo says. “Do you care about good health outcomes with equal access to good care? You need connectivity to connect the patient with the best, most relevant provider. Do you care about financial inclusion, like access to banking services? If you live in a remote area and can’t easily access a brick-and-mortar bank, you need connectivity. If you care about job creation and economic growth — how many of us work from home now? When the Covid vaccine came out, how was it accessible? Only online scheduling. How many jobs today are posted only online?”
The good news? Awareness of the digital divide — and solutions to address it — are on the rise.
“I’m even seeing a lot more cities and municipalities hiring digital equity and inclusion fellows or program directors,” Snider says. “So it’s evolved to where some cities that now have broadband also have digital equity and inclusion staff, which is cool to see and I think we’ll see more of.”
Want to relocate to a connected community? We’ve got plenty to choose from. And at FiberHomes.com, you can scope out whether a specific business or residential address has access to high-speed fiber internet.