5G will NOT bridge the digital divide. In fact, it will deepen the digital divide.
Above is Netflix’s “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj” about Why Your Internet Sucks… is a must watch on the FCC, undue influence by corporations regarding internet access.
“While Internet service providers like Comcast and Charter are largely to blame for Internet inequality in parts of the country, the FCC is making things worse by siding with private corporations at the expense of millions of Americans who lack access to what has become a vital tool for everyday life.”
The experts GAO convened also stated that 5G deployment would likely exacerbate disparities in access to telecommunications services, known as the “digital divide.” (page 3)
Resources on 5G and the digital divide:
- Exploring Racial Equity and Social Justice Impacts of Cell Towers and ZTA 19-07 – Tech Wise – Montgomery County, MD
- Myth Fact on 5G TESTIMONY OF ANGELA SIEFER Executive Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance to the United States House of Representatives
- Verizon’s 5G Promise Rings Hollow in Sacramento and Next Generation Wireless That Works for All of Us, by the Communications Workers of America
- CNET, The broadband gap’s dirty secret: Redlining still exists in digital form, June 28, 2021
- Theodora Scarato Montgomery County needs affordable broadband, not 5G cell towers, to bridge the digital divide, Montgomery Sentinel, July 10, 2021
- US Government Accountability Office 2020 5G Report: Experts Warn That 5G Deployment Would Likely Widen the Digital Divide
- June 2020 Report: “FCC Lacks Comprehensive Strategic Planning to Guide Spectrum Policy for 5G Deployment”
- “The drive to widen the digital divide,” published in California Matters by Larry Ortega, founder of Community Union Inc., a nonprofit corporation that trains consumers living in the digital divide.
Downloadable flyer: Americans for Responsible Technology 5G technology can’t possibly close the “Digital Divide.” Anyone who says otherwise is badly misinformed. Here’s why.
“Littering neighborhoods with cell towers is an environmental justice issue. Property values are likely to go down for any residents who suddenly find that a telecom tower has invaded their front lawn, but the economic hit is likely to be especially hard on those with smaller properties, whose homes are close to the street. On the flip side, people in wealthier areas with more spacious yards will not be so close to the taller, thicker poles laced with bulky equipment boxes. People in apartment buildings with bedroom windows close to the antennas will have little recource and less resources to move. The disparities in health care will further impact the quality of care and health outcomes for those who are impacted,” stated Theodora Scarato of EHT.
Watch Theodora Scarato Interview Larry Ortega on the Digital Divide
