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COVID-19 Exposes Broadband Inequality for Rural Students

The digital divide looms large as schools in rural Pennsylvania gear up to educate students who are learning from home. The lack of reliable and affordable broadband service may be putting our children and communities at risk.

Updated:

May 20, 2020

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Luxury of Necessity

As COVID-19 causes schools to transition to remote learning, rural families face hurdles due to the digital divide. In the past, students without broadband were often unable to complete homework, but now stakes are higher as students are challenged to learn with limited teacher interaction and limited or no access to online curriculum. Imagine trying to research a paper, watch a video or participate in an online lecture without reliable internet or a laptop. A Brookings Institute study reports consistent stories of parents taking children to public places offering free Wi-Fi access so students could complete their homework. Now that places offering free public Wi-Fi are closed, the situation has escalated for many families who do not have access to broadband, can't afford broadband, or have limited computer capacity as they try to educate their children at home.

Why Broadband Matters in Rural Communities

Researchers have found that higher levels of broadband adoption lead to economic growth, higher incomes, and lower unemployment. Today, students must be digitally literate to apply for a job or to get into college. The USDA Agriculture and Rural Prosperity Task Force emphasizes the necessity of internet in today's information-driven economy, and that rural students of all ages should have the same digital tools and self-paced learning options as urban students. Broadband offers a wide array of free and open education platforms, courses, and resources that can enhance learning during this pandemic, but students must have affordable and reliable broadband. Providing broadband in rural areas will allow all Pennsylvania families and communities to participate in the digital economy, improve education, and enjoy other benefits the internet offers. The USDA reports that improved broadband for rural communities could provide as much as $18 billion of annual economic improvements by enhancing digital agriculture technologies.

The Have-nots

According to the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools, some administrators found that as many as 50% of their students could not connect to the internet at home when the stay-at-home order was announced. They also found that in places where access was available but unreliable, download speeds were significantly slower than FCC recommendations causing problems when children and parents were working from home trying to share the same network connection and computers.

In rural McKean County, researchers estimate that the average download speed is 8.21 Mbps. This is far below the 25 Mbps standard for broadband quality. According to Avi Wolfman-Arent of WHYY.org Radio, "the Otto-Eldred School District occupies about 86 square miles on the county's northern fringe, right along central Pennsylvania's border with New York state. The hilly terrain, he added, creates massive disparities in internet service, ranging from high-speed cable internet with 100 megabytes of services, down to zilch. The district believes that about 10% of its students have no internet access at all and another 10% have such slow service it would be difficult for them to participate in any form of online learning. So the district plans to make every assignment available in paper form for those students who need it, using meal sites and possibly mail service to get hard copies to families. The district may also create Wi-Fi hot zones in parking lots, a common tactic among rural districts."

The Otto-Eldred School District is not alone. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) estimates that there are 24 million American households without affordable and reliable internet, and 80% of the households are in rural areas. In their own study, the Broadband Now company reports that the FCC may be underestimating the number by 20 million people, noting that the under-counts tended to be greater in states with higher rural populations. Another study conducted by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), reports that 3.1 million households with school-aged children have no wired broadband connection at home. In some cases, these students rely on wireless subscriptions that may not offer data plans that are sufficient or affordable for extended online learning. All of these reports confirm that rural areas do not have the funding they need to get connected.

The National 4-H Council website reports that a survey commissioned by Microsoft found that 20 percent of rural youth in America lack access to reliable broadband at home, regardless of whether it's available where they live, and nearly half of teens reported struggling to complete homework due to slow internet connections. The results also suggest that limited broadband can impact a young person's self-confidence, career opportunities, and likelihood of attaining financial success.

Like Broadband Now's report, a report released by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania claims that the FCC overstates broadband internet availability and access across Pennsylvania. Penn State professor Sascha Meinrath, who led the research study believes the overestimation is because the FCC uses self-reported data from Internet Service Providers. The report also found there were no counties in Pennsylvania where at least half the population received broadband connection and that download speeds in some places were one-fifth of the FCC's definition of broadband download speed. In contrast, New York is rated first among states when it comes to broadband connection. In 2015, New York made a $500 million commitment to provide high-speed internet to every New Yorker by 2018. With recent upgrades, New York boasts that 98 percent of New Yorkers now have access to broadband.

Federal Steps to Remedy the Divide

In recent years, the FCC and USDA have made strides toward increasing the availability of broadband in rural America. The USDA Broadband ReConnect Program furnishes loans and grants to provide funds for the costs of construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment needed to provide broadband service in eligible rural areas. The FCC also launched a $20 Billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund directing up to $20.4 billion over ten years to finance up to gigabit speed broadband networks in unserved rural areas. The first phase of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund targets census blocks that are wholly unserved with fixed broadband at speeds of at least 25/3 Mbps impacting about six million rural homes and businesses in Phase I. Phase II will prioritize networks with higher speeds, greater usage allowances, and lower latency.

Map of Pennsylvania Broadband

Penn State Extension is working hard to raise awareness of Broadband need within Pennsylvania and to provide bidders and legislators with information related to Broadband. To enable bidders to estimate project costs to provide internet service to locations not having broadband services as defined by the FCC. Penn State Extension educator Harry Crissy, created an interactive online map that represents FCC data in terms of broadband service. It provides census block information that have been deemed eligible for assistance from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction and their respective 'best service available,' as listed by the FCC. The map also includes reserve prices at the census block group level, as well as the number of eligible sites within the block group. Existing structure, transmission lines, substation, and tower data are also included, as well as legislator information. The map also includes measuring tools to assist in estimating to help bidders.

The Covid-19 Keeping Americans Connected Pledge

While the FCC and USDA work to improve rural access to reliable broadband, COVID-19 has been causing problems for some vulnerable families with children in households that do have broadband access. With the rising number of unemployment claims, broadband may become a "luxury" that some families can no longer afford. In an attempt to respond to this aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FCC issued the Keep Americans Connected Pledge to protect families who have access to broadband but can't pay the bill. More than 650 broadband internet providers, telephone companies, and trade associations have signed on and pledge not to disconnect consumers who cannot pay their bills for the next 60 days, waive late fees, and open up free Wi-Fi hotspots. However, these offerings are only available in locations where companies already provide service and do nothing for rural communities that lack service. Families who are having difficulty paying for broadband service are encouraged to contact your local provider to see if they have signed on to this program.