Giselle Carrillo, founder of Los Courage Camps
Perhaps no resource has become more invaluable as a result of the pandemic than the internet. As the leader of Los Courage Camps, a nonprofit organization that provides underserved Los Angeles children from diverse backgrounds with the chance to experience the ocean by providing surfing lessons and leadership training for those who haven’t previously had the opportunity, I see first-hand how young people with reliable access to the Internet benefit greatly from expanded learning opportunities and access to more available programs and services.
Given our ever-growing reliance on the services that high-speed internet provides, it is encouraging to see that local policymakers in L.A. County are assessing ways to accelerate digital equity in our community. The Census Bureau estimates that over 433,000 L.A. County
households still lack a broadband internet subscription. Any successful effort to bridge our area’s digital divide must be grounded in solutions that respond to the core issues keeping Angelenos offline while also acknowledging the urgency of this problem.
There are two factors driving LA County’s digital divide. Most impactful is the affordability gap, which refers to people whose income level prevents them from being able to afford the cost of an internet subscription. The second factor is the adoption gap, which is comprised of individuals who don’t have the digital literacy skills or language skills to navigate the internet or don’t see the relevance of the internet. Fortunately, access to broadband infrastructure is not a problem plaguing our County like it does some of our nation’s most rural areas. The FCC estimates that 99.7 percent of the County has access to three or more providers and the
website BroadbandNow has even dubbed L.A. County as one of the “counties with the most broadband penetration” in the nation.
These dynamics mean that County leaders must seek solutions that allow unconnected residents to afford the cost of an internet subscription more easily or equip them with the digital literacy skills they need. The County Board of Supervisors is currently considering measures that would successfully do this, and others that would not.
Proposals before the Board that call for the deployment of government-owned fiber networks are the clearest example of a solution that would not accelerate digital equity in L.A. County. Such projects are not only duplicative ― providing an unneeded network to an area that already has multiple ― but also, according to the County’s Director of the Internal Services Department, fiber deployment takes “years to implement,” meaning that unconnected residents continue to go without the services they need while waiting for a remedy that won’t address their needs in the slightest. An expanded pilot project will just delay access for hundreds of thousands of Angelenos in need ― including too many of our children.
The County’s time and resources would be better spent addressing adoption-related solutions. Promoting the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is likely the most potent solution that we have at our disposal that the County should strongly consider leveraging. This groundbreaking program, which was created thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provides a $30 monthly voucher for an internet subscription to eligible households, of which there are over 1.6 million in L.A. County. When combined with the low-income offerings available in the area, it makes the cost of a subscription virtually free. Promoting this program, and taking advantage of available federal dollars, makes sense – it is a fraction of the cost of fiber deployment, actually addresses the cost-related barriers driving our digital divide, and can get folks the connectivity they need immediately.
With the tools to quickly close the digital divide right in front of us, along with the many other pressing issues in dire need of resources – the homelessness crisis, the mental health of our most vulnerable residents, and housing affordability to name a few – the Board of Supervisors can better serve Angelenos by building upon its work promoting the ACP. It should accompany that investment with resources for digital literacy initiatives that provide people with the skills they need to navigate the web. If we are going to truly level the digital playing field in L.A.County, increasing adoption should be the center of our focus.
Los Courage Camps’ mission is to teach the diverse children of Los Angeles who have never experienced the ocean how to surf and consequently connect them with their courage, potential, inner strength, and leadership.