HTTP on Senate broadband hearing: Broadband deployment “crucial for the nation and for Latinos”

Last week The Atlantic published an article explaining why the Internet has become “the unsung hero of the pandemic.” The piece documented how our communications systems maintained high levels of performance during Covid-19, even as consumers’ demand for data rose 20+% as the quarantine took effect.

As the piece explained, this success was no accident. Rather it was “the result of long-term planning and adaptability, ingenuity and hard work.” The proof is in the online speeds consumers are seeing. As the current Speedtest report showed, as of May 12, compared to the week of March 2 (before the quarantine took effect and before data demand surged), the average U.S. wired broadband speed was down a barely perceptible 1% and mobile speeds were actually up 4%.

 This success hung over the Senate Wednesday as the Energy & Commerce Committee held a full committee hearing on “The State of Broadband Amid the Covid-19 Pandemic.”

 As lawmakers of both parties recognized today, the challenge now is in helping those remaining Americans who do not have broadband to get connected. This is especially important given the devastating impact Covid-19 is having on the Latino community’s health and economic wellbeing. This should be all the evidence Congress needs that improving broadband access is crucial for the nation and for Latinos and communities of color.

 This issue is especially important in rural areas, in particular across the South. (I discussed Sen. Mark Warner’s views on rural broadband recently here) America is seeing extremely fast Latino population growth at a time when the need for telehealth services and online education have never been greater. Every American should be able access the internet and this will only happen with forward-looking legislation that removes regulatory roadblocks to deployment and encourages investment and adoption of better, faster technologies in areas that remain underserved.

The health and safety of Latino communities across rural and historically underserved communities depends on legislative action to make universal broadband a reality. Congress and the Administration need to show unprecedented bipartisan leadership in the coming weeks to bridge the digital divide once and for all —Alejandro Roark, Executive Director, HTTP

Additional Resources

Watch the hearing here: The State of Broadband Amid the Covid-19 Pandemic