On Wednesday, January 29, the House Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing entitled Empowering and Connecting Communities Through Digital Equity and Internet Adoption. It was the first Congressional hearing exploring digital equity and broadband adoption. The subcommittee heard from five expert witnesses.

Gigi Sohn stressed that the success stories of broadband are far from equally distributed as nearly 43% of the American population do not have broadband internet access service in the home. Communities of color and low-income Americans are more likely to be on the wrong side of the digital divide. She urged an Affordability Agenda, a multi-pronged strategy to ensure that everyone in the U.S. can afford a home broadband connection.

More at House Committee site: hearing video and written testimony.