Adrian Daily Telegram: In Michigan, including Lenawee County, many still lack broadband access
As federal officials debate pouring billions of dollars into broadband access, data suggests many of Michigan's schoolchildren and adults who preferred to work from home spent the pandemic with sub-par access to high-speed internet, particularly in the state's least-wealthy counties.
Advocates say that "digital divide" across the United States is due largely to two factors: a lack of internet infrastructure in the country's rural reaches and the relatively high cost of broadband that has made the service unaffordable for many in urban centers.
In about half of Michigan's counties — 42 of 82 — measured by a Federal Communications Commission study, broadband access is available to at least 82% of residents. Yet in about half of the state measured by Microsoft — 42 of 83 counties — no more than 34% of households actually have high-speed access, a USA TODAY analysis shows.
In Michigan, 8.9% of residents don't have adequate broadband infrastructure and 51.4% live in areas that have only one internet provider, according to the White House.
Locally, on the FCC and Microsoft measures, in Lenawee County, 81% of households could get broadband but 31% actually had it.
President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of Senate moderates have reached a deal on a far-reaching infrastructure plan that would direct $65 billion to increase broadband connectivity from coast-to-coast. Despite the agreement, it's unclear whether it would address the solutions some lawmakers want to see such as continued broadband subsidies for low-income families, greater competition among wireless providers and continued buildout of high-speed networks in poorer, rural areas.
The Biden administration estimates 30 million Americans live in areas that lack broadband infrastructure to provide minimally acceptable speeds.
In January, 158 members of the U.S. House and Senate, including Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, wrote a letter to the Federal Communications Commission regarding implementation of programs to help close the digital divide in rural America. With the completion of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction, the letter urged the FCC to ensure recipients of broadband deployment funding can deliver on their commitments.
Walberg and other Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee in February introduced a package of 28 bills aimed at accelerating broadband deployment, promoting new broadband infrastructure and closing the digital divide.
"For rural communities in Michigan, the lack of access to reliable high-speed broadband has only become more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic," Walberg said at the time. "Students, families, and small businesses rely on internet connectivity each day, and we can't allow rural areas to get left behind."
Walberg's bill, the Brownfields Broadband Deployment Act, would provide that a project for the deployment or modification of a communications facility entirely within a brownfield site is not subject to requirements to prepare certain environmental or historical preservation reviews, according to govtrack.us. It was referred to the House Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change.
The proportions of Michigan households that have high speed access varies widely: In Lake County, it's just 2%; in Sanilac County, it's 5%; and in Montmorency County, it's 6%. Leading the state are Oakland County with 64%, Midland County with 59% and Livingston County with 59%.
A USA TODAY analysis of data nationwide found a wide gap between rich and poor counties, as measured by median household income. The chasm varies depending on state and county.
Among Michigan's wealthiest counties: 59% of Livingston County has access, 64% of Oakland County has access and 52% of Washtenaw County has access. Among the least-wealthiest counties, access rates are 2% in Lake County, 22% in Clare County and 41% in Gogebic County.
Among the state's most populated counties: Some 42% of Wayne County households have broadband access, as well as 64% of Oakland County households and 53% of Macomb County households, the Microsoft data shows.
This article originally appeared in the July 7 edition of the Adrian Daily Telegram.