Report: The Blueprint for Equitable Digital Participation
An ISOC LIVE Summary
Public Knowledge / UnidosUS / National Digital Inclusion Alliance
May 2026
Authors: Alisa Valentin - Public Knowledge; Claudia Ruiz - UnidosUS
The report argues that access to affordable, reliable high-speed Internet is now foundational for participation in modern economic, educational, civic, and social life. Yet millions of Americans, especially low- and moderate-income households, remain excluded from meaningful digital participation due to persistent barriers around affordability, infrastructure reliability, device access, and digital literacy.
The project was intentionally designed to center the lived experiences of people directly affected by the digital divide rather than relying solely on traditional policy or institutional perspectives. The authors frame the work as a “kitchen table” policy agenda that reflects what households actually need to live with dignity and opportunity.
The research consisted of seven focus groups conducted between September 2024 and March 2025 in Colorado, Georgia, New Mexico, and Ohio with participants from households earning $70,000 or less annually. A nationwide survey involving 107 respondents followed in April 2025.
The report’s major findings include:
Consumers possess sophisticated understandings of the broadband problems affecting their communities and often have practical policy solutions.
Broadband inequities intersect with housing instability, healthcare access, education, transportation, and employment insecurity.
Existing broadband policy approaches frequently fail because they do not center community expertise.
The Universal Service Fund should be modernized to provide a broadband affordability benefit of roughly $40 per month or more for high-cost and Tribal areas.
Network resiliency and reliability must become core policy priorities.
Sustained federal investments are needed for devices, digital navigation programs, and culturally responsive digital skills training.
Introduction: A Broadband Policy Agenda of the People, by the People, and for the People
The introduction positions broadband policy as a civil rights and democratic participation issue. The authors argue that Internet access is no longer optional infrastructure but rather a prerequisite for participation in education, healthcare, employment, government services, and civic life.
The report criticizes what it describes as “Beltway” policymaking structures that prioritize institutional actors, lobbyists, and well-funded stakeholders while excluding low-income households and marginalized communities from policy development. The authors argue that this exclusion results in policies that fail real-world communities because they are disconnected from lived experience.
The project aims to reverse that dynamic by elevating the perspectives of people directly affected by digital inequities. The report repeatedly emphasizes that communities most impacted by the digital divide should shape the solutions intended to address it.
Participants represented a broad range of experiences, including:
People with disabilities
Rural residents
Students
Older adults
Immigrants
Frontline workers
Underemployed individuals
Communities of color
The report argues that many participants viewed existing policies as reinforcing exclusion rather than alleviating it, especially when policies are influenced by narratives of scarcity or corporate priorities rather than community needs.
Part I: Behind the Battle of Imaginations — Project Overview
This section establishes the broader framework for digital equity and universal service.
The report defines digital equity as ensuring that all individuals and communities possess the technological capacity necessary to fully participate in society, democracy, and the economy. Importantly, the report stresses that broadband deployment alone is insufficient. Meaningful digital participation also requires:
Reliable broadband service
Affordable pricing
Access to devices
Digital literacy support
Technical assistance
Culturally relevant training
Responsible governance frameworks
The report notes that millions of Americans remain disconnected because one or more of these elements is missing.
The authors explain that the focus groups were intentionally selected to represent diverse geographic, racial, economic, and demographic realities across urban and rural America.
The report also situates the research within a politically volatile period marked by:
Economic uncertainty
Policy polarization
Federal funding instability
Battles over broadband subsidies
Shifting federal priorities after the COVID-19 era
The authors identify several major policy disruptions occurring during the research period:
Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Expiration
The report describes the ACP as essential for over 23 million low-income households. Participants repeatedly described the ACP as transformative because it enabled consistent connectivity without sacrificing food, utilities, or other necessities. Congress’s failure to renew the program is framed as a major setback.
Cancellation of Digital Equity Act Funding
The report criticizes the Trump administration’s 2025 cancellation of Digital Equity Act grants, arguing that the move undermined support for historically underserved populations, including rural residents, people with disabilities, older adults, racial minorities, veterans, and individuals with language barriers.
The report highlights ongoing litigation by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance seeking restoration of the program.
BEAD Program Restructuring
The report discusses changes to the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program under the Trump administration, including removal of fiber-preference requirements, labor provisions, and diversity-related planning requirements. The authors argue these changes create uncertainty around future broadband infrastructure policy.
Universal Service Fund (USF) Constitutional Challenge
The report reviews the legal challenge to the USF and praises the Supreme Court’s decision upholding its constitutionality. The authors frame the ruling as essential for preserving programs supporting rural broadband, low-income households, schools, libraries, and healthcare facilities.
Organizational Commitments and Philosophy
Public Knowledge, UnidosUS, and NDIA frame universal service as both a civil rights issue and a democratic necessity. The organizations argue that universal service policies must evolve alongside society’s increasing dependence on digital technologies.
The report invokes Ruha Benjamin’s concept of “radical imagination,” arguing that transformative digital equity solutions require policymakers to move beyond existing political constraints and listen directly to communities experiencing exclusion.
Part II: In Their Own Words — Policy Insights from the Ground Up
This section forms the emotional and analytical core of the report. The authors argue that people experiencing digital inequities possess a form of policy expertise often dismissed by institutional power structures.
The report emphasizes that participants did not simply describe problems; they also articulated detailed solutions grounded in practical realities.
Denver, Colorado: Reliability, Affordability, and Digital Skills
The Denver focus group included retirees, students, teachers, and residents of public housing communities. Participants were first asked to describe their Internet experiences using animal metaphors, producing vivid descriptions:
Shark — predatory ISPs
Elephant — slow connections
Hyena — deceptive providers
Monkey — unpredictable service
Roadrunner — fast and empowering connectivity
These metaphors illustrated how participants viewed broadband as deeply tied to trust, stability, and dignity.
Reliability and Infrastructure Challenges
Participants described frequent outages, especially in low-income neighborhoods. One participant explained that entire neighborhoods regularly lost service without warning, often at night. Another described nearly missing an academic deadline because their Internet failed while submitting a major paper.
The report links these problems to long-standing infrastructure underinvestment in marginalized communities.
The authors argue that network reliability should be treated as a central component of digital equity policy, not merely broadband availability.
ACP and Affordability
Denver participants repeatedly described the ACP as essential for maintaining broadband access. Many stated that without the subsidy they either struggled to stay connected or had to reduce other household spending.
Participants reported that affordable broadband prices for low-income households generally fell between $30 and $40 per month.
Some participants stated that Internet access had become non-negotiable because phones, televisions, communication systems, and public services increasingly depend on connectivity.
Digital Skills and Literacy
Participants stressed the need for accessible, culturally supportive digital skills training, especially for older adults and people intimidated by technology.
Key concerns included:
Email use
Device setup
Scam prevention
Child online safety
Basic navigation skills
One participant emphasized that literacy barriers compound digital exclusion, since some residents struggle to read emails or understand online instructions.
Denver Policy Recommendations
Participants recommended:
Stronger ISP competition and antitrust enforcement
Municipal broadband alternatives
ACP renewal
More digital skills classes
Greater accountability for providers
Reliable infrastructure investment
Atlanta, Georgia: Structural Inequality and Digital Belonging
The Atlanta section examines how transportation inequities, racial disparities, language barriers, and economic inequality intersect with broadband access.
The report highlights Atlanta’s profound income disparities, noting that median Black household income is dramatically lower than white household income.
Transportation and Infrastructure
Participants emphasized that transportation limitations often prevented people from reaching community organizations offering digital skills training.
The report connects these challenges to historical racial segregation and underinvestment in Atlanta’s public infrastructure systems.
Education and Connectivity
One participant described how unreliable broadband disrupted their children’s homeschooling and resulted in school absences.
The report frames these experiences as evidence that digital inequities directly undermine educational opportunity.
Affordability and Competition
Participants repeatedly described the difficulty of balancing broadband costs with basic necessities like food and utilities. One parent explained that paying for Internet service could mean sacrificing groceries for a family of six.
Others criticized annual price increases and limited ISP competition, especially in neighborhoods served by only one or two providers.
Outreach and Accountability
Participants expressed frustration that broadband assistance programs were poorly advertised and difficult to navigate. Some only learned about ACP after it ended.
The report emphasizes the importance of digital navigators and trusted community intermediaries to help residents understand available resources.
Language and Immigrant Communities
Participants discussed how language barriers and low digital literacy create compounded exclusion for immigrant communities.
The report also highlights how connectivity enables immigrants to maintain emotional and familial ties across borders. One participant described WhatsApp and FaceTime as essential for staying connected to family abroad, saying, “The internet is my life.”
Broader Themes Across the Report
Across all communities studied, several major themes recur:
Broadband is viewed as essential infrastructure, not a luxury.
Reliability matters as much as availability.
Affordability remains the single largest barrier.
Communities possess practical expertise policymakers frequently ignore.
Digital equity requires investments in people as well as infrastructure.
Connectivity is deeply tied to dignity, belonging, and democratic participation.
The report consistently argues that policy frameworks focused solely on infrastructure deployment are inadequate without parallel investments in affordability, digital literacy, devices, community support systems, and accountability.
Conclusion
The report ultimately argues for a transformation in broadband policymaking that shifts authority toward the communities most affected by digital inequities. Rather than treating digital inclusion as a narrow technical challenge, the authors frame it as part of a broader struggle over democracy, equity, and social participation.
The authors contend that the United States already possesses the knowledge necessary to close the digital divide. The challenge is not discovering new theories but listening to and acting upon the expertise communities have already developed through lived experience.
RESOURCES
The Blueprint for Equitable Digital Participation - the full report by Alisa Valentin and Claudia Ruiz
Press release - Public Knowledge announcement of the paper
A Call for People-Centered Policy - companion Insights post on the project and its findings
Public Knowledge - consumer advocacy group, co-author of the report
UnidosUS - Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, co-author
National Digital Inclusion Alliance - co-author and plaintiff in Digital Equity Act litigation
NDIA Digital Equity Act lawsuit - seeking reinstatement of the cancelled competitive grant program
FCC v. Consumers’ Research - Supreme Court ruling upholding the Universal Service Fund
BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice - NTIA’s June 2025 changes to the deployment program
Countering the Politics of Deservingness in Digital Equity - Alisa Valentin in Tech Policy Press