ITIF-促进公平：为什么通用宽带接入率很重要（英）-2023.8-17页_238kb

Summary of ITIF Report: "Enabling Equity: Why Universal Broadband Access Rates Matter"

The report emphasizes that broadband access is no longer optional and is crucial for economic growth, societal equity, and bridging existing divides. High broadband adoption rates positively impact GDP growth, economic stability, job creation, and resilience to shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic. Network effects make digital platforms more valuable with greater user participation.

Key benefits include:

• Economic: Broadband supports a growing digital economy, spurs job creation, and reduces administrative burdens.
• Social: It enables affordable access to healthcare (e.g., telehealth) and government services, particularly benefiting low-income groups who stand to gain the most.
• Equity: Universal connectivity can reduce socioeconomic disparities by providing equal access to resources.

Policy recommendations include sustaining and expanding subsidy programs like the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) for affordability, implementing economic impact analyses in funding programs, and surveying offline households to understand barriers.

From a policy perspective, prioritizing universal connectivity requires both deployment and adoption efforts to ensure all groups, especially those least likely to be online, benefit from digital resources.