When to Regulate? The Digital Divide and Net Neutrality

Emergence of Broadband as a New Universal Service

In this module, you will learn how policy makers within the United States, since 2010, have been advancing broadband Internet access service to become a universal service to all residential locations. We will discover how National Broadband Plans are pivotal policy planning tools to identify and address the main policy issues driving this universal service designation. This is perhaps the most significant communications policy development that has occurred in the last 100 years since telephone service was declared a universal service in the early 1900s! You will learn how far the transition to universal broadband service has progressed, and what have been the key drivers of progress, along with the remaining barriers facing this transition set in motion by the recognition of the Internet as critical infrastructure for the nation.

Addressing the Digital Divide Based Upon the Digital Equity Act

So far in this course we have studied the problems identified as “Digital Divide issues” that have become increasingly apparent since before the National Broadband Plan was completed in 2010. We now turn to gain further understanding of the digital divide, as reflected in the definition of the term by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as “the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at different socio-economic levels with regard both to their opportunities to access information and communication technologies (ICTs) and to their use of the Internet for a wide variety of activities.” As you will learn in this learning module, the gaps included in this definition, known as digital equity gaps, arise due to wide disparities in the broadband usage and adoption patterns of different groups of people in the United States. To study how public policy can address digital equity gaps, we will focus on the broadband equity initiatives and activities included in the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021. Specifically, we will learn how the Digital Equity Act of 2021, one of the major policy components included in the IIJA, plans to address Digital Equity gaps. We will then use the Colorado's Broadband Roadmap and Digital Access Plan as a case study to assess the approaches taken in Colorado to address both Digital Divide deployment issues as well as digital equity gaps. To assess the approaches taken in this case study, we will apply portions of the interdisciplinary policy framework to help us critique these plans and programs now underway in the state of Colorado.

Network Neutrality to Insure Access to Broadband

Our earlier modules have focused upon access to broadband infrastructure based upon the actual availability of broadband services throughout the geographic areas or communities where consumers reside and the affordability of broadband services to consumers to deliver the benefits of broadband necessary in modern society. In this module we turn to examine another type of access to broadband services which is the ability of consumers to access the online resources provided by broadband services. The quality and performance of network access for Internet users are addressed in the often-controversial net neutrality regulations intended to manage fair and efficient access to online Internet resources such as Internet applications and websites. In this module, you will learn about the evolution of network neutrality regulations established by the Federal Communications Commission. As you will see, these regulations are among the most controversial that have been applied to Internet services due to philosophical differences in how the Internet should be regulated by the government.