In Case You Missed It: Closing the digital divide and facing down Mark Zuckerberg

Congratulations are due to Congress and the Biden team for the passage of the landmark infrastructure bill. Now that we have that behind us, and the champagne flutes put away, it is time to probe where the execution might need additional help. After all, anything that makes it through a politically complex process is far from ideal — the outcome is a compromise that never solves the whole problem. Consider the $65 billion allocated for broadband internet that had rare bipartisan support and has one of the biggest gaps to close. My Digital Planet research team estimates that the true cost of connecting all Americans is closer to $240 billion — a whopping $175 billion shortfall.

Which Americans should be left out of the deal?