The broadband gap

A common complaint amongst rural Americans is the disparity in upkeep that urban roads receive relative to rural roads. And it's not just roads; other infrastructure systems are also relatively lacking. Wastewater systems are less prevalent in rural communities than in urban ones, and the rural systems often receive less maintenance. The most important infrastructure gap, however, might be internet access.

Nearly a quarter of rural Americans describe access to high-speed internet as a "major problem." Rural Americans are 16% less likely to have broadband internet in their home than their suburban counterparts. These discrepancies in access to the internet may be a contributing factor to rural America's stuttering economy.

Increased broadband access has been linked to increased job and population growth, higher rates of new business formation, increased home values, and lower unemployment rates. Increased internet access can also alleviate the rural health care gap by giving rural patients the option to meet with medical professionals from their own home.

The pandemic has shown that increasing internet access can have unforeseen positive side effects. For some rural American families, virtual schooling has been more arduous than in-person schooling due to poor or nonexistent internet connections. Having a stable internet connection would have provided these families with the ability to quarantine without disrupting their children's education.

Additionally, there are likely many employers who have noticed that they could save money by having their employees work from home rather than an office space. Having an internet connection thus opens you up to a host of employment options that were previously unforeseen. I doubt we have seen the entirety of what the internet is capable of yet, so it's time to make a real effort to put the power of the internet into every American's hands.

Obviously, the internet is of no use to someone who owns no devices that can connect to it. Rural Americans are about 12% less likely to own a smart phone or a laptop than suburban Americans. Additionally, rural families are less likely to own multiple devices that can connect to the internet, which limits the number of family members that can use the internet at any one time.

Solving the hardware gap is a little trickier than increasing internet access. Expenditures on broadband can be justified as infrastructure building, whereas buying laptops and smart phones for certain impoverished Americans will be seen as a form of welfare. This doesn't mean that the hardware gap can't be solved legislatively, but it will likely be a tougher battle.

The hardware gap may have to be solved indirectly, by focusing on reducing poverty (especially within rural communities) and strengthening the economy. Hopefully the broadband gap will be addressed more directly.

President Joe Biden has promised to expand wireless broadband, via 5G, to every American. I hope President Biden is able to keep this promise and give rural Americans the plethora of advantages that the internet has already given us urban folk.