Civil Rights Groups Urge Congress to Close ‘Digital Divide’

“This is a problem Congress has ignored,” said Rep. Watson (D-Cal.). “This digital divide is conspicuous along income, racial and ethnic lines.” Spanish-speaking Latinos, especially Mexicans, have strikingly low rates of computer ownership and home Internet use, the study found. Language plays a role for many of these families in impeding Internet usage, he said. On the plus side, the study found that greater computer usage among low-income families also translates to higher school enrollment, graduation and grade levels, Fairlie said. Teenagers who have access to home computers are 6 to 8 percentage points more likely to graduate from high school than teenagers who don’t, he said. Home computers also decrease school suspension and criminal activities, he said.

“There are some fairly significant policy implications as a result of this study,” said Wade Henderson, exec. dir.-Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the importance of a solid communications infrastructure, Henderson said, and Congress needs to be mindful of those groups that don’t have access to high-tech services as rebuilding efforts get started. “In the aftermath of this tragedy, it’s no longer possible for the haves to ignore the have-nots,” he said. The Leadership Conference will advocate for those “have-nots” as Congress takes up the DTV and telecom bills, Henderson said: “This debate will be about who gets to speak and for what price.”

To solve the digital divide, Henderson urged Congress to fully fund the E-Rate program and expand it to cover advanced telecom services. He suggested that providers such as cable and VoIP become more equal players in contributing to the fund: “Disparate regulation distorts the market and undermines the longstanding commitment to universal service.” His other recommendations: (1) Commit Universal Service Funds (USF) to community technology centers that provide job training opportunities. (2) Encourage local govts. to address community technology needs when negotiating franchises with local video service companies. (3) Direct the FCC to develop a national deployment play for advance telecom service to Universal Service-eligible customers nationwide. (4) Acknowledge tribal regulatory authority to remove barriers to deploying telecom infrastructure and services. (5) Preserve USF and reform the program to address the needs of people with disabilities in an IP-enabled environment.

“We're trying to get a jump on the gun,” said Karen Peltz Strauss, legal advisor, Communication Services for the Deaf, referring to efforts to influence congressional legislation to address issues related to disabilities. The group is pushing for a general accessibility mandate to be included in telecom rewrite legislation. Such a mandate would require that the technologies not only allow people with no speech or no hearing to operate the devices, but also to be compatible with speech and hearing devices for people with those disabilities. “Often it’s a catch-up game,” she said. The technologies get developed first, and access for people with disabilities is a matter than gets solved later. In this instance, “We want to make sure they're accessible from the start,” she said. With IP technologies, she said, “it’s all very possible” because they operate in a seamless manner.