Rural broadband disparities should not trump unemployment

If the overall unemployment rate were anywhere near what it is for African-Americans and Hispanics, the policy debates happening in Washington would be a lot different. The FCC announced today, for example, that its broadband subsidy program (known as USF) would focus on bringing high-speed Internet to rural areas. While this is a noble objective—many rural areas are among the hardest hit by unemployment—it ignores the biggest problem staring this country right in the face.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the overall unemployment rate in January was 9.0%. For African-Americans, January unemployment was a whopping 15.7%. Latino unemployment was 11.9%. Last year, The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies’ Broadband Adoption Study revealed: “Nine out of ten low-income African Americans … use the Internet for job searches. Among families with an annual income of less than $20,000, 92% of African Americans and 63% of Hispanics go online for job searches as compared to only 54% of Whites.”

The Commission itself has acknowledged, among other things, that broadband is “the latest challenge to equal opportunity” …

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION, NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN (2010)(“Broadband can expand access to jobs and training, support entrepreneurship and small business growth and strengthen community development efforts.”); Id. at 3 (“Jobs increasingly require Internet skills; the share of Americans using high-speed Internet at work grew by 50% between 2003 and 2007, and the number of jobs in information and communications technology is growing 50% faster than in other sectors.”); Id. at 5 (“If learning online accelerates your education, if working online earns you extra money, if searching for jobs online connects you to more opportunities, then for those offline, the gap only widens.”); Id. at 29 (Broadband is “[C]reating high-paying jobs in important sectors such as information and communications technology (ICT).”); Id. at 59 (In considering the transition from circuitswitched network to IP-based services, the Commission “[S]hould consider the impact of the transition on employment in the communications industry, particularly given the historic role of the sector in providing high-skill, high-wage jobs.”); Id. at 129 (“Access to broadband is the latest challenge to equal opportunity . Americans . can use broadband to . apply for jobs.”); Id. at 193 (asking “Why is it that many jobs are posted online, but too many Americans-particularly in low-income and minority communities [emphasis added]-lack the access or skills to see those postings?”).

But since when do rulemaking proceedings take up mere policy statements?

The basis for determining where broadband subsidies should go should be areas of high unemployment first, and geography second. Focusing on rural areas does not cast a wide enough net. No pun intended.