States Must Tackle the Real Obstacles to Broadband Adoption

The Affordable Connectivity Program successfully connected 23 million  Americans before Congress failed to renew funding for this very popular bipartisan bill. In the wake of its demise some states are attempting to replace the ACP by furtively focusing on affordability, by increasingly mandating that internet service providers offer low-cost broadband  to qualifying low-income consumers. The evidence is clear - affordability programs alone will not close the digital divide. Closure can only be achieved through greater adoption  by lower income households. 

Adoption is a far greater barrier than affordability

For far too many years lack of adoption has been a persistent and obdurate barrier to digital  inclusion, stifling opportunities for social and economic improvement for those on the  wrong side of the digital divide. Extensive studies have shown that even when broadband  services are effectively free for all qualifying households, adoption rates remain low. For  example, a survey of pandemic era connectivity programs found that even when broadband  service was available at no cost to low income families, millions failed to accept the free offer. Under the ACP, 51.6 million households qualified for broadband subsidies, but just 23.3 million enrolled-only 40% of eligible households. 

Why are these opportunities for free or subsidized connectivity being ignored by those  who need it the most? The answer is they don’t believe they need it. 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 Current Population Survey, a federal tool  used to understand unconnected households, relevance is nearly four times as  significant a barrier as cost. (Emphasis added.) Overall, 56% of unconnected  households across all income levels cite a lack of perceived relevance to their lives or  lack of interest as the reason for not subscribing to broadband, despite its availability. 

Those numbers explain why narrowly focused price regulations won’t close the digital  divide. Real progress will require states to zealously focus on eradicating the perceived  lack of relevance and other adoption barriers, such as lack of digital skills, lack of  equipment, distrust of government, housing instability, and increasing privacy and  security concerns. 

Equity of experience, in addition to smartphones, requires home  broadband

Expanding broadband adoption also means looking beyond mere connectivity. The goal  is full inclusion. In a June 2024 report, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration noted, “The disparities we find when  looking beyond overall internet use suggest that, while our country is making great  strides toward getting everyone online in some fashion, the quality and experience of  connectivity still varies greatly.”

Full inclusive connectivity cannot be achieved by having just a smartphone connection. Completing homework, applying for a job, using telehealth, accessing government  forms and services, or simply relaxing with your family while streaming a movie is better  experienced with home broadband – and many of these tasks simply cannot be reliably  completed with smartphone access only. A 2025 national survey by BSG of 506 recent  home broadband adopters found that adopters derived significant more benefits from  home broadband compared to smartphones only. (BSG 2025 report) 

Sadly, too many households are dependent solely on smartphones. Approximately 15% of  American households are smartphone-dependent and do not subscribe to home broadband.  Over 90% of adults with household incomes of at least $100,000 have both mobile and home  broadband, compared to 57% of adults in households earning $30,000 or less.

The demographics of smartphone-only users reflect those on the wrong side of the  digital divide, primarily Hispanics, African Americans and Native Americans. According  to a June 6, 2024 NTIA report, 25% of Hispanics, 22 % of American Indians & Alaska  Natives and 16 percent of Black Americans are smartphone only users, compared to 12% White, Non-Hispanics and Asians.  

Maze of state and local regulations are causing delays 

Without proper deployment the above concerns fade into the background. More than 4 years into the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act, build-out remains shackled and  hindered by permitting and licensing roadblocks, limited access to local rights of way,  and costly and time-consuming disputes over utility pole attachments needed to string  new fiber. Ultimately, adoption and equality of Internet experience are only possible if  the networks are built– and time is of the essence-inflation threatens to reduce actual  build out funding.  

Congress has done the heavy lifting by appropriating new funds for broadband  deployment. Now state, federal legislators, NTIA and the FCC must act with urgency  and create effective processes and procedures to eliminate barriers to building out  these new networks. Mechanisms for prompt dispute resolution must be established. Delay and inflation must not be allowed to derail one of the most important national  initiatives since the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.

Deborah Lathen, President of Lathen Consulting, LLC is the former head of the FCC Cable Services Bureau (now Media Bureau) and a seasoned communications and business attorney with vast experience and knowledge about broadband policy.  In 1998 Deorah wrote the first FCC report Understanding Broadband and most recently partnered with Paul Garnett in authoring A Handbook for the Effective Administration of State and Local Digital Equity Programs.

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