Broadband Experts Reflect on Digital Divide Progress Five Years After Pandemic

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2025 - Industry experts gathered Wednesday to assess the state of broadband connectivity in America, highlighting both significant progress and persistent challenges in closing the digital divide since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

"We have made progress in terms of connecting, building out infrastructure and connecting Americans to broadband," said Deborah Lathen, president of Lathen Consulting and former head of the Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau. "But still there's a large portion of Americans who happen to be in that low-income area who are not connected."

Lathen, who wrote the first FCC report called "Understanding Broadband," noted that adoption remains a major challenge even as infrastructure expands. "We find that even when broadband is free, there's still a category of people who will not adopt broadband, who will not subscribe for various reasons – perceived lack of relevance, distrust, fear of cyber attacks."

Broadband Breakfast on March 12, 2025 - 5 Years On: Where Is Broadband Now?

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Broadband BreakfastDeborah Lathen

Gary Wood, president and CEO of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative and Firefly Fiber Broadband, shared an impressive growth story. "In January of 2019, we had zero paying customers and about 20 miles of fiber in the air. Today we have 36,000 customers, we've got over 7,000 miles of fiber deployed, we're in front of about 75,000 homes and still connecting as fast as we can."

Wood noted that the pandemic accelerated their deployment timeline and expanded their service area. "We shortened the five-year timeline to four years on our system because we saw the urgency that we needed to have to get to everyone quicker."

Jake Varn, associate manager of the Broadband Access Initiative at the Pew Charitable Trusts, emphasized the crucial role state broadband offices have played in recent years. "In 2020, we had maybe 20 states with dedicated broadband offices. We've really seen over these last five years state broadband offices growing tremendously in their capacity."

Despite political uncertainty surrounding the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, Varn noted that states continue to make progress. "We have the three states that have already selected their providers... I think there's another eight states that have already closed their application windows... and I think there's another 18 states that are open right now today soliciting bids."

However, Brian Vo, chief investment officer for Connect Humanity, a nonprofit impact investor, expressed concern about the pace of progress. "If we went into lockdown tomorrow, God forbid, how would things be different? While things are better, there have been incremental improvements, incremental connections, maps are incrementally better, I don't know if we'd really be able to say it's been a sufficiently step change that we would have hoped for over five years."

Vo also raised concerns about private equity's role in broadband infrastructure. "We've seen several instances of effectively some version of redlining but under the umbrella of trying to maximize returns for their shareholders and their investors."

Reliability has become as important as speed

Rory Conaway, CTO for Wi-Fiber, brought perspectives from the wireless industry, noting that reliability has become as important as speed for many consumers. "Consistency and uptime seems to be the highest priority. Even something as short as an hour or two has now become critical to people who are working from home."

Conaway also highlighted affordability challenges. "They can get the fiber to the house, but in many places, the people cannot afford to keep it running. Wireless has had to fill in some of that area because our capital expenditure is a little bit lower."

The panel expressed mixed views on the future of digital equity initiatives amid changing political winds, but remained cautiously optimistic about states' ongoing commitment to connectivity.

"This whole attack on DEI and equity is a bad word... I think people are going to come to realize this isn't something to help black people and Indians and everybody else, this is for all of America. Rural America encompasses people of all races," Lathen said. "Where my hope lies is in the states."

Vo suggested finding common ground: "I have yet to meet somebody who has disagreed that people should have equal access to equal opportunities. I have not heard anybody say no, people should not be able to access telehealth and healthcare or online education... I don't even think it's a bipartisan issue. I think it's a nonpartisan issue."

Conaway also emphasized education as the key component of digital inclusion. "We need to define what type of internet they have... it's mostly about the education of using the services they do have that would help them in their lives more than they're used to."

The virtual event marked the fifth anniversary of Broadband Breakfast Live Online, which began on March 13, 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic was causing widespread shutdowns across the country.

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Broadband Breakfast on March 12, 2025 - 5 Years On: Where Is Broadband Now?

We’re also inviting you - our audience - to share your thoughts!

Broadband BreakfastDeborah Lathen