The United States has spent decades and billions of dollars to achieve universal broadband access. Today, we’ve completed the last steps toward that goal, thanks to advances in satellite networks and fixed wireless technologies.
Yet, the digital divide continues because many Americans still face barriers to affordability or lag in digital literacy. Unfortunately, our broadband policies are neglecting the real barriers keeping millions offline. It’s time for a bold rethinking of broadband policy to match today’s realities — and stop wasting taxpayer dollars on problems we’ve already solved.
Federal programs like the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) initiative, the Federal Communications Commission’s High-Cost Fund, and the Agriculture Department’s ReConnect program remain fixated on expensive infrastructure projects even as those deployment gaps have closed.
The FCC reports that 99.98 percent of U.S. locations have access to broadband speeds of 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload. Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites and fixed wireless access reach even the most remote areas.
BEAD keeps pouring billions into fiber projects costing $70,000 per household — when Starlink could connect them for $600 — and the FCC’s High-Cost Fund spends $4.5 billion yearly on rural broadband, dwarfing the $900 million allocated to the FCC’s affordability program, Lifeline. Exorbitant infrastructure costs siphon away resources that could make broadband affordable for low-income families.
This misalignment of priorities is inefficient and a missed opportunity to address the deeper issues causing the digital divide.
According to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, nearly 15 percent of offline households cite cost as the main barrier to broadband adoption. Programs like the COVID-era Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) demonstrated how targeted subsidies can close this gap. The ACP provided $30 monthly to low-income households, but its overly broad eligibility criteria — covering 42 percent of U.S. households — led to unsustainable costs. By mid-2024, the ACP ran out of funding and collapsed.
Congress should reallocate funds from costly deployment initiatives to affordability and digital literacy to deliver greater effect and cost taxpayers much less. Cutting outdated deployment programs could more than pay for a reformed ACP, offering targeted subsidies to households earning up to 135 percent of the federal poverty line or those recently unemployed.
Likewise, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration should reform BEAD to make it technology-neutral and then cap per-location costs at $1,200 to finish any remaining deployment gaps for a fraction of the cost of the current fiber bias. States should then use the savings to address the affordability and digital literacy barriers that comprise the bulk of the remaining digital divide.
Today, broadband programs are on autopilot and going in the wrong direction. The Trump administration must step up to reform these programs before more money is wasted on unnecessary deployment. By prioritizing affordability, adoption and digital literacy, policymakers can finally address the barriers to connectivity and ensure all Americans have the chance to get online.
