From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Why Do Some Communities Still Lack Broadband? Description: Broadband is the most commonly used form of internet access in the U.S. and provides high-speed connections through things like cables, fiber-optics, and satellites. Yet, millions of Americans still lack broadband--impacting their access to businesses, government services, education, and more. What is the status of plans to provide broadband access to all Americans? We talk with Andrew Von Ah--an expert on communications technologies and a director in our Physical Infrastructure team--to learn more. Related GAO Work: GAO-21-24, Telecommunications: FCC Should Enhance Performance Goals and Measures for Its Program to Support Broadband Service in High-Cost Areas Released: October 2020 [Intro Music] [Andrew Von Ah:] FCC stakeholders and Congress really don't have a full picture of how effective these programs have been or exactly how much work remains to be done. [Holly Hobbs:] Hi and welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office-- I'm Holly Hobbs. Broadband is the most commonly used form of internet access in the United States and provides high-speed connections through things like cables, fiber-optics, and satellites. Access to services through the internet has become more critical during COVID-19, as many of us limit in-person contact by teleworking, remote learning, or just shopping online. Yet, millions of Americans still lack broadband--impacting their access to businesses, government services, education, and more. What is the status of plans to provide broadband access to all Americans? Today we talk with Andrew Von Ah--an expert on communications technology and a director in our Physical Infrastructure team. Thank you for joining me, Andrew. [Andrew Von Ah:] Thanks for having me here, Holly. Happy to be here. [Holly Hobbs:] So Andrew, why do so many Americans lack access to broadband? And what characteristics might these folks and their communities have in common? [Andrew Von Ah:] A lot of the areas without access to broadband tend to be more rural. So, low population densities in rural areas makes it difficult for internet-service providers to get a profitable return on investments they make. Also rural areas often have geographic features that add to the costs internet-service providers face, such as wooded or mountainous terrain. Especially troubling is the status of access on rural-tribal land. And, FCC reported--for example--in 2018, that nearly half of Americans living on rural-tribal lands, nationwide lacked broadband access. And we know that this number is likely even higher because FCC's data overstates broadband coverage. But it's not just rural areas where broadband access is lacking. Even within urban areas we see a digital divide--where neighborhoods in areas of the city where more wealth enjoy better service and greater access than low-income areas. [Holly Hobbs:] And we've got a lot of kids learning at home right now because of COVID-19. What impact might lack of access have on them? [Andrew Von Ah:] Well certainly, in the absence of in-person school, home broadband access becomes vital for connecting students with their teachers, their peers, and the resources they need to complete assignments. Students who don't have that home access have resorted to trying to connect to Wi-Fi networks sitting outside libraries or fast-food restaurants, or coffee shops. They may be relying on a mobile phone connection, which may have its own limitations. Furthermore, low-income families and communities of color disproportionately lack access to home broadband. So 79 percent of white families had broadband, only 66 and 61 percent of Black and Hispanic families respectively did. So, lack of broadband for these groups really threatens to endanger their kids' education and puts them at risk of falling further behind. [Holly Hobbs:] Your report talks about the Federal Communication Commission's role in promoting broadband development. Does the FCC have timelines or goals for getting everybody access? [Andrew Von Ah:] FCC certainly has a significant role in promoting broadband deployment. FCC hands out roughly $5 billion each year to telecom-companies to deploy broadband in areas of the country with no service. But to answer your second question, the short answer is, you know, not really. You know, FCC has a broad strategic goal of ensuring universal availability of broadband to homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions. But FCC hasn't set a timeline for accomplishing this goal and really has no intermediate year-to-year targets for helping FCC get from where things stand today with millions of Americans still without broadband to that goal of universal, or sort of 100 percent availability. [Holly Hobbs:] So, what challenges are they facing that's preventing them from getting everybody access? [Andrew Von Ah:] Well, there's a number of challenges. We've talked about some of the challenges just in extending the infrastructure out to rural areas in terms of geography and a limited customer base. But it's also about affordability and digital literacy. And those are things that are often overlooked when we talk about providing broadband access. We sort of focus on the infrastructure without sort of the other things that go around it. However, one of the key challenges is mapping. While improvements are under way, FCC's current broadband maps really overstate where there is access to broadband. And when broadband access is overstated in areas that are not served, it prevents other carriers from obtaining high-cost support to deploy broadband to those areas, and those consumers are left without service. [Music:] [Holly Hobbs:] So, it sounds like broadband plays an important role in connecting Americans to online goods and services. And could be even more critical for students who are trying to learn remotely during the pandemic. But that there are still a lot of people without access and a lot of challenges in getting them that access. [Holly Hobbs:] Andrew, did we make any recommendations to the FCC to help promote the expansion of broadband access? [Andrew Von Ah:] Our most recent report, we made 4 recommendations. Three of these are really aimed at helping FCC refine its goals and measures related to broadband access so it has better information to manage its programs and make well founded decisions about how to allocate the programs' resources to increase access. We also made a recommendation for FCC to more robustly report out the progress it makes. So, you know, that would give policymakers a better understanding of whether FCC is being successful in closing the digital divide and where policy may need to be changed or programs redirected in order to really bridge that divide. [Holly Hobbs:] And last question--what's the bottom line of this report? [Andrew Von Ah:] Without performance information--just in terms of goals and measures that provide FCC with a clear picture of where broadband access stands, and for that matter, without clear broadband maps about where broadband coverage exists and where it doesn't--FCC stakeholders and Congress really don't have a full picture of how effective these programs have been or exactly how much work remains to be done. [Holly Hobbs:] That was GAO's Andrew Von Ah talking about a new report reviewing broadband internet access. Thank you for your time, Andrew. [Andrew Von Ah:] Thank you very much! My pleasure. [Holly Hobbs:] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts. And make sure you leave a rating and review to let others know about the work we're doing. For more from the congressional watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, visit us at GAO.gov.