Fiber for Breakfast 2023 Week 46 – State and Local Leaders Can Close Digital Divide by Removing Barriers to Free Internet

Approximately 28.2 million of the 122.8 million households in the United States do not have high-speed broadband. The historical narrative has been that these households are unconnected because they do not have access to high-speed Internet infrastructure. However, the reality is that 18 million of these households, home to 47 million people, are simply offline because they cannot afford an available Internet connection.

Over the past year, closing the broadband affordability gap has become a national priority. Congress created the $14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) to close the gap, yet only a quarter of the 51.6 million eligible households have enrolled.

During this Fiber for Breakfast, Evan Marwell, the Founder and CEO of EducationSuperHighway, will discuss the ACP’s progress and the barriers that are keeping unconnected households offline. He will also outline the tools and resources the nonprofit has created to help state and local leaders increase awareness and support enrollment, including GetACP.org (https://www.getacp.org/) – a virtual mobile assistant that simplifies the ACP enrollment process and provides real-time support to help eligible households determine the easiest way to qualify, identify the documents needed when applying, and find “free-with-ACP” broadband plans available at their address.

Webinar Guest:

Evan Marwell is the Founder and CEO of EducationSuperHighway, the leading non-profit focused on closing the digital divide in America’s most unconnected communities. In eight years, EducationSuperHighway closed the digital divide in America’s K-12 schools – connecting nearly 47 million students in 99.7% of America’s classrooms to high-speed broadband. A recipient of the San Francisco Chronicle’s Visionary of the Year award and a serial entrepreneur, Evan launched companies over the last 25 years in the telecom, software, and hedge fund industries. Evan is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School.