Consulting Firm Creates Digital Opportunity Index Measuring ISPs
Group hopes index will supplement ESG for evaluating ISPs.
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2025 – When it comes to closing the digital divide, no one beats Comcast.
At least, that’s what the Vernonburg Group concluded on Monday. Using its newly created Digital Opportunity Index, the digital equity consulting firm found that out of the 15 ISPs it ranked, Comcast did the most to increase broadband availability and adoption.
The results of Vernonburg’s analysis of the ISP’s efforts were released in a report on Monday. The group rated 15 ISPs, including AT&T, Charter, Comcast, and Verizon. Providers were scored on five criteria: availability (45 percent of final score), affordability (25 percent), digital skilling (15 percent), outreach (10 percent), and device affordability (5 percent).
Comcast received the highest score, followed closely by Verizon and AT&T. Those three received a AAA rating from the group, and were deemed leaders in advancing digital opportunity. Three other providers: Altice, Cable One, and Charter, received a AA rating and were also considered leaders. The remaining providers earned a B, BB, BBB, or A rating, though the report did not identify them by name.
The group stressed that no ISP received a perfect score, and that all the providers could take steps to improve their standing. The report recommended several quick fixes, including adding links to free digital skilling resources, enabling website translation, and conducting an accessibility assessment of their website.
Standards such as the Environmental, Social, and Governance index seek to help investors evaluate a company’s efforts to promote social outcomes. However, those standards often apply to companies from a variety of industries and, as the Vernonburg Group argues, do not measure a company’s efforts to close the digital divide.
“ESG indices attempt to hold ISPs accountable for activities that are misaligned with ISPs’ core business activities of providing Internet connectivity services to consumers and businesses,” the group’s report stated. “ESG indices overlook the distinct, measurable ways ISPs can—and do—expand broadband availability and adoption. This gap risks undervaluing ISPs actively addressing the digital divide. The Digital Opportunity Index addresses that blind spot.”
All data used for the index was publicly available, and the Vernonburg Group stressed that it only considered factors within each provider’s control.
Paul Garnett, founder and CEO of the group, noted that the index was meant as a tool for action.
“The Digital Opportunity Index is a tool for action,” Garnett said. “ISPs can use their scores to benchmark and improve their performance, investors can direct capital toward those driving real-world progress, and policymakers will have a clearer, more comprehensive picture of ISPs’ progress on broadband availability and adoption. It’s about aligning business performance with broadband expansion and adoption.”
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