Barriers

A core focus of the ACLP since its inception has been identifying and proposing solutions for overcoming barriers to broadband adoption.

In the late-2000s, the ACLP was commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to develop a first-in-kind series of papers examining the impacts of broadband on:

• Senior citizens,
• People with disabilities,
• Education, and
• Healthcare.

In addition to providing a comprehensive overview of the benefits of broadband connectivity for each group, these papers also identified the array of legal, regulatory, and perceptional barriers impeding more robust adoption by these users.

In 2009, the ACLP was invited by the FCC to submit a report on barriers to broadband adoption as part of the Commission’s preparation of a National Broadband Plan. The ACLP’s barriers report provided the FCC with detailed information regarding the myriad of barriers impacting broadband utilization among seniors and people with disabilities and within the education, healthcare, energy, and government sectors.

• Barriers to Broadband Adoption: A Report to the FCC (2009)

Since then, the ACLP has continued to explore barriers to broadband adoption in each of its major papers and filings, including:

• Broadband Adoption: Why it Matters & How it Works (2009)
• Toward an Inclusive Measure of Broadband Adoption (2012)
• ACLP Comments to the Broadband Opportunity Council (2015)
• ACLP Comments to the CPUC regarding Digital Redlining (2021)
• ACLP Comments to NTIA regarding Digital Equity (2023)

Beginning in 2024, the ACLP will begin refreshing and updating its work on barriers to broadband adoption and will post its findings here and on the BBE Blog.