Brattle Consultants Discuss the Digital Divide in the US and the Proposed Infrastructure Bill in a Recent Article
Brattle Principal Dr. Coleman Bazelon, Senior Consultant Dr. Paroma Sanyal, and Senior Research Analyst Divya Goel have coauthored an article, “Someday We’ll Find It: The Rainbow Connection,” in which they discuss broadband connectivity and the proposed infrastructure bill that has been passed by the Senate and is awaiting a House vote.
Now more than ever, US citizens are dependent on broadband access for everyday activities such as work, school, entertainment, and shopping. With this in mind, $65 billion of the proposed $1 trillion infrastructure bill has been designated for broadband-related spending. The proposed bill will allocate spending towards both dimensions of internet connectivity: availability and adoption. Two-thirds of the proposed budget will target availability issues through infrastructure investment, and one-third of the proposed budget will target adoption issues through eligibility expansion, consumer education, and device subsidies.
