Access to broadband or high-speed Internet in the Delta frequently falls along racial and economic lines, according to a recent report.
The Center for Social Inclusion recently released “Broadband in the Mississippi Delta: A 21st Century Racial Justice Issue.” Some of the findings in the report include:
- People of color are the majority in zip codes with zero access to high-speed Internet.
- Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District has the largest population of people of color and the lowest levels of broadband access.
- Broadband builds the economy. Therefore, poor communities of color are less able to build their economies or the state and national economy:
- Zip codes with eight or more Internet providers average 811 businesses. Those without high-speed Iinternet access have a mere 7seven businesses on average. Zip codes with eight or more Internet providers average 13,212 jobs. Job opportunities in places with one, two, or even three Internet providers are a mere fraction of that, with an average of 646 jobs.
- Of the 124 applications for expanding broadband access in Mississippi, 87 were rejected and 37 are still awaiting a decision.
The report correlates poverty and race with broadband access, but does not offer evidence of any sort of causal relationship.
The matter of a lack of broadband Internet access is not a trivial one, local officials and the report say.
“Businesses cannot compete and create new jobs, health care cannot be expanded and educational quality cannot improve without high speed internet access,” it says in the report. “It is a 21st century gateway to the information and the relationships we need to meet the basic needs of today.”
State Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, said that he is working with U.S. 2nd District Rep. Bennie Thompson to bring more opportunities for access to the Mississippi Delta.
“Broadband access allows us to communicate with one another, or even take classes online,” Jordan said. “We need it.”
He said a project to bring access to broadband in the Delta was not funded, but he is hoping that a second round of budgeting in March will see a need to fund the project.
“I’m very hopeful that we can get it funded by March,” Jordan said.
Thomas Gregory, chief administrative officer for the City of Greenwood, said the educational opportunities provided by expanding broadband access is critical.
“Broadband gives access to a lot of information and education. In a place like Greenwood, that means everything,” Gregory said.
About 27 percent of the zip codes in the 2nd District have no broadband service. Only 13 percent of those zip codes have four or more Internet service providers.
By contrast, in southern Mississippi, 46 percent of the zip codes have access to four or more Internet service providers.
According to Planning, a magazine for city planners, Pelahatchie, a central Mississippi town, has had great success in providing wireless broadband access to the town.
Pelahatchie Mayor Knox Ross told the magazine that the wireless infrastructure, costing about $7,000 was worth the effort.
“It's one more extra thing we can do to differentiate ourselves from everybody else. I suspect in a few years other places will have it, but right now, very few do," he said.
Ross said the wireless network has been a great selling point for bringing new business into the town.
The monthly bill for the service provider is only about $200.
According to the report, the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act has allocated $4.7 billion in grants that will go toward improving the nation’s access to broadband.
The National Technology and Information Administration is accepting new applications for the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program between Feb. 16, 2010 and March 15th, 2010. The FCC is in the process of developing a national broadband plan.
As a result of the report, the Center for Social Inclusion recommended the following:
- Recovery Act funds must be directed toward revitalizing the communities hardest hit by the recession and pay particular attention to rural and urban communities of color.
- The FCC’s national broadband plan must plan to target rural communities and rural and urban communities of color.
- Improve transparency regarding broadband availability and ARRA grant decisions.
- Ensure that high-speed Internet is affordable for residents of poor communities of color and rural communities of all races.
