Closing the Digital Divide

This briefing by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute examines the 'digital divide' in the United States, focusing on the disparities in broadband access between urban, rural, and tribal communities. It details the various technologies used for delivery, the socioeconomic and geographic barriers to expansion, and the critical role of high-speed internet in enabling energy efficiency, precision agriculture, and a transition to a clean energy economy. The document also reviews federal funding mechanisms and the efforts of municipal governments and electric cooperatives to bridge the gap.

• Broadband access disparities are most acute in rural and tribal areas. In 2019, 98.8 percent of urban areas had access to the FCC's minimum 25/3 Mbps standard, compared to 82.7 percent of rural areas and 79.1 percent of tribal lands. This gap widens for faster services (100/10 Mbps), where urban access was 97.8 percent, rural was 66.8 percent, and tribal lands were 63.7 percent.
• The 'digital divide' is driven by geographic, economic, and market barriers. Low population densities and rugged terrain in rural areas lead to a low return on investment for providers; the FCC estimated in 2017 that reaching the final 2 percent of residential and small commercial locations would cost $40 billion plus $2 billion in annual maintenance. Market concentration is also high, with four companies—AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast Corp, and Spectrum—holding 66 percent of the U.S. market share in 2018.
• Broadband is essential for energy efficiency and the clean energy transition. The U.S. could reduce energy use by 12–22 percent through internet-connected efficiency upgrades. Smart devices, such as thermostats (expected to be 70 percent of the market by 2022), heat pumps, and solar inverters, require broadband to optimize energy consumption and manage energy flow.
• High-speed internet enables precision agriculture and grid resilience. Sensor-based irrigation and yield monitors can save farmers $25 per acre on input costs. On the utility side, broadband allows for demand-side management (DSM) and demand-response (DR) programs, which saved 32.8 million megawatt-hours in 2019 by reducing peak electricity demand.
• Tribal nations face significant regulatory and financial barriers to broadband deployment. Between 2010 and 2017, only 0.6 percent of FCC funding and 11 percent of USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS) funding were allocated directly to tribes or tribally-owned providers. As of 2018, only 11 of 573 tribes had ISPs designated as an eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) under the Connect America Fund.
• Non-private alternatives, such as municipal networks and electric cooperatives, provide critical infrastructure. Chattanooga, Tennessee's municipal network created about 5,200 new jobs and $1.3 billion in economic benefits from 2011 to 2015. Additionally, over 200 electric co-ops are deploying internet services, with 90 using fiber; a survey of 20 co-ops showed a $700 million investment in infrastructure across 16 states.
• Recent federal legislation has increased funding for broadband. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 provided $7 billion, including $3.2 billion for the Emergency Broadband Benefit and $1 billion for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. The Biden-Harris Administration's infrastructure plan further commits $100 billion to deploy high-speed internet to every American.

APA

Snead, R., & Tolbert, J. (2021). Closing the Digital Divide. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-closing-the-digital-divide-2021

Chicago

Snead, Rachel, and Jaxon Tolbert. Closing the Digital Divide. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2021. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-closing-the-digital-divide-2021.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Snead |first1=Rachel |last2=Tolbert |first2=Jaxon |title=Closing the Digital Divide |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=12 October 2021 |url=https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-closing-the-digital-divide-2021 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{snead2021closing, author = {Snead, Rachel and Tolbert, Jaxon}, title = {{Closing the Digital Divide}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-closing-the-digital-divide-2021}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }