Access to high-speed Internet service -- also known as broadband -- has become a basic public necessity, just like water or electricity.

Yet despite its importance, broadband in the United States is far from universal. Millions of Americans still stand on the wrong side of the "digital divide," unable to tap into the political, economic and social resources of the Web.

Americans with a broadband connection pay more and get less than citizens of most other developed nations; survey after survey shows U.S. broadband quality, speed and adoption falling dangerously behind countries in Europe and Asia.

That's unacceptable in our digital age, when getting everyone connected to an open, fast and affordable Internet should be a national priority.

Whether Americans are able to reap the benefits of broadband -- and whether they enjoy a choice of providers, fast speeds and reasonable prices -- largely depends on policy decisions made in Washington.

Reports on the Digital Divide

InternetforEveryone.org -- the broad-based initiative to connect every American to fast, open and affordable Internet -- is working to shed light on the millions of Americans who live without regular Internet access or lack the training or equipment to get online. A small reporting team is traveling to communities across the country to tell people's stories.

• Read and watch Five Days on the Digital Dirt Road, a unique, multimedia report on the digital divide in rural America.
  
• Check out Wired Less: Disconnected in Urban America, our report on America's urban digital divide.

Learn more at InternetforEveryone.org.

In Congress

Free Press is pleased that President Obama has signed into law the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, which unleashes $7.2 billion to expand broadband access and adoption. The law attaches open Internet conditions to broadband funds and directs the Federal Communications Commission to produce a national broadband plan.

• Read Dismantling Digital Deregulation: Toward a National Broadband Strategy. This new report provides a comprehensive, data-driven analysis of the failed policies at the root of America's broadband decline.
  
• Read Putting the Angels in the Details: A Roadmap for Broadband Stimulus Success. This report by Free Press provides specific recommendations for federal agencies on how to ensure the short- and long-term success of the $7.2 billion broadband stimulus investment.

At the FCC

Key issues and important proceedings at the FCC include:

• Collection of Broadband Data

  The FCC's current methods of broadband data collection are woefully inadequate. Because of these shortcomings, it is difficult to gain an accurate understanding of the current picture of broadband deployment in the United States.

• U.S. Broadband Deployment

  The FCC is required to report to Congress annually as to whether broadband is being deployed to all Americans in "a reasonable and timely fashion."

• Universal Service Fund

  The Universal Service Fund is a federal program that subsidizes phone service in rural areas and for low-income Americans and discounts Internet connections for schools, libraries and rural health care providers. The FCC has been requesting comments from stakeholders for years on how to modernize the fund.

Click here to read Free Press' comments with the FCC as part of the agency's national broadband plan to bring high-speed Internet to all Americans. Or, read the press release.

Click here to read Free Press' comments with the FCC on how the term 'broadband' should be defined for the national broadband plan and future policymaking at the agency. Or, read the press release.

Click here to read Comments from the Public Interest Communityas part of the agency's national broadband plan to bring high-speed Internet to all Americans.