The Internet is a Utility

January 2022 update: I published this a month before Covid-19 hit the US.

Broadband internet makes it possible for many people to work and learn from home. It also made it possible to for houses of worship to keep operating, not to mention providing access to the outside world for people in quarantine. The Covid-19 pandemic only proves how important internet access is, and why America needs broadband expansion.

June 2023 update: the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program can provide you with a monthly discount on internet service and even a discount on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. To see if you qualify, visit getinternet.gov.

High-speed, broadband Internet access – what would we do without it? It’s something most Americans take for granted. But some of us don’t have that luxury. According to the Pew Research Center, 21 million people in the US don’t have access to broadband Internet service; most of them are living on tribal lands and other rural areas.

Life today is very difficult without reliable Internet access. So much of society depends on its existence. Broadband Internet keeps the world running as much as electricity and other utilities do. It’s time that we start treating the Internet like a utility.

The Rural Electrification Administration

It’s hard to imagine a time when large parts of the U.S. had no electricity, while other parts did. The twentieth century arrived much later in rural areas. Refrigeration is necessary to preserve food during hot weather. Electric lights make it possible to work at night without the danger of open flames and kerosene fumes. Without electricity, rural residents were stuck in a literal dark age.

Until the 1930s, less than 10% of rural residents had electricity in their homes. Private companies were reluctant to install electricity in rural areas, believing that it wasn’t worth spending money to install power in an area with a small population. Businesses chose to stay in areas where they could get reliable sources of power.

The 1920s saw 30 different state-led initiatives to expand electricity to rural areas. The Great Depression ended many of these programs; the Roosevelt administration’s New Deal came to the rescue. The Rural Electrification Administration was created on May 11, 1935. The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 provided loans to local residents in order to form cooperatives to provide electricity. In 1959, House Speaker Sam Rayburn said that 90% of farm households had electricity.

The Birth of the Modern Internet

When the Internet started growing in the mid to late ’90s, it was a supplement to other media. Most Americans got their news and entertainment from physical sources: newspapers, printed books, VHS tapes and DVDs. Newspapers would publish articles in their print editions and then publish extra material on their websites.

Now the Internet is just as – if not more – important than other media. The Internet is no longer supplemental material; it is now a primary resource. Instead of having newspapers delivered to their homes, people have them delivered to their smartphones. TV shows and movies are streamed on the Internet. The growth of the Internet has led to the rise of online-only news organizations such as The Daily Beast and Buzzfeed.

But there’s much more to the Internet than news and entertainment.

Accessing Government Services

When was the last time you filed taxes by mail? The IRS last mailed forms to individual households in 2006. Most Americans file online, or at the very least, download forms from IRS.gov.

Filing for unemployment involves going to a web site and creating an account there. Signing up for healthcare, a change in immigration status, Social Security benefits – all require the Internet. If you don’t have reliable Internet access, all these tasks become much more difficult.

School

From elementary school to college, students need the Internet to do homework. Every student in America uses the Internet for research. All colleges and universities provide email addresses to their students. Everything needs the Internet – registering for classes, turning in assignments. To say nothing of the many people who take classes and complete their degrees online. You can watch lectures from home – but only if you have broadband.

Work

The Internet is necessary for many jobs, and not just in a traditional workplace. Remote work requires a reliable Internet connection. Most work-from-home jobs also require a broadband Internet connection. Running a small business out of your home requires the Internet. Then of course, there are some jobs that can’t exist without the Internet, like vlogging or being an influencer. Without broadband Internet access, entire career fields are out of reach.

Broadband Expansion

How do we expand Internet access to rural areas? It starts with subsidizing the cost of installing and maintaining fiber optic cables. There have been two amendments to the Rural Electrification Act that include provisions for rural Internet access. For example, the town of McKee, Kentucky has broadband Internet courtesy of Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative. This co-op was able to install fiber-optic cable thanks to Federal grants and loans; in fact, the co-op itself was created by funding from the Rural Electrification Act.

Another possible solution is Educational Broadband Services, a set of frequencies originally set aside for schools. To gain access, an organization must apply for a license from the FCC. But access is no longer restricted to traditional schools; tribal governments can also apply for reservations and tribal lands.

Unfortunately, sometimes governments block broadband Internet expansion. Twenty-four states prevent small towns from creating their own Internet service providers. In Missouri, it’s illegal for municipal governments to sell or lease Internet access to residents, while Florida imposes heavy taxes on these services.

Looking at the state of Internet access in rural areas brings to mind William Gibson’s saying, “The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.” If the Rural Electrification Act brought isolated parts of the US into the twentieth century, expanding access to broadband Internet will bring isolated communities into the twenty-first century.  The Internet is a utility, as essential to modern life as electricity.