A4
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, MARcH 18, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
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circulation Manager
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GUEST COLUMN
Spanning the digital divide
I
f there was any question whether
broadband was an essential service,
COVID-19 made the answer pain-
fully clear — there’s nothing optional
about a fast, reliable internet connection.
The tens of millions of Ameri-
cans without broadband have been left
scrambling to have any
access at all to every
aspect of society, from
school to health care
to work. The only way
for the United States
to claw our way out of
the economic hole left
RON
by the last administra-
WYDEN
tion is if every family
— no matter where they
live — can be part of the recovery. And
they only can do this with high-quality
internet.
Since becoming a United States sen-
ator for Oregon, I have held, and con-
tinue to hold, town halls in every Ore-
gon county, every year. I have seen
firsthand how reliable broadband can
lift towns up. And I’ve seen how rural
and lower-income communities with-
out first-class infrastructure are being
left behind. The fact is, rural Americans
have shorter life spans, more chronic
health conditions, fewer economic
opportunities and fewer educational
opportunities than urban or suburban
Americans. That’s unacceptable.
As chairman of the Senate Finance
Committee, I’m making the case that
broadband needs to be at the center of
any infrastructure or relief package Con-
gress passes this year. It’s time to get
back to thinking big. Our country took
on rural electrification during the heart
of the Great Depression to ensure that
every community benefited from mod-
ern technology. We also built millions
of miles of federal highways to connect
our sprawling nation. It is not dream-
ing too big to demand, right now: Every
community should be connected to the
21st century shipping lane and commu-
nications pipeline — the internet.
In any economic situation it is fool-
ish to leave money and opportunity
untapped. In our current economic state,
America cannot afford to maintain the
economic and opportunity isolation in
which huge swaths of the country suf-
fer. It creates economic sacrifice zones.
And while access to the internet is not a
silver bullet, as a society we know that
access to affordable, reliable broadband
is one essential element necessary to set
the right temperature to grow jobs and
opportunity.
Connecting all of America to the 21st
century shipping lane and communi-
Associated Press
Many rural communities lack access to high-speed internet service.
cations pipeline requires tackling two
challenges: accessibility and affordabil-
ity. To get online you need a wire car-
rying broadband to your house, and it
has to come at a price you can actually
afford.
Poised to solve the problem, but not
knowing the full extent of it, is where
we are at right now. Estimates range
from the Federal Communications Com-
mission’s low of 18 million Americans
lacking access to research showing that
number is likely closer to 42 million,
and that more than 160 million Ameri-
cans are not using broadband internet.
Of those, at least 18 million Americans
simply can’t afford it, according to FCC
Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. A com-
bination of lax government oversight,
outdated laws and underinvestment has
left Americans paying some of the high-
est prices for the internet in the devel-
oped world.
Turning our connectivity crisis
around won’t be easy. But drawing on
the work of experts who have been
studying this for years, here’s my blue-
print for closing the digital divide.
Step one is putting cables in the
ground to get internet access where it
needs to go. Democrats put a $7 billion
down payment on broadband in the end-
of-year COVID-19 relief package, but
Congress can’t stop there. In 2017, the
FCC estimated it would cost $80 bil-
lion to expand access to every house-
hold, and the price tag has likely risen
since then.
Congress can keep costs in check by
putting smarter policies in place to pre-
vent duplication and waste. For exam-
ple, federal dollars should come with
“dig-once” requirements to ensure that
roads built with taxpayer dollars also
include broadband conduits in areas that
need them. And we need better reporting
about where and how money is being
spent, backed up by regular audits.
There also must be more access-re-
lated accountability for providers that
receive federal funding. The federal
government spends billions every year
on broadband subsidies — about $5 bil-
lion annually — and, while big inter-
net service providers have raked in prof-
its, accessibility and affordability have
stagnated. Some providers have aban-
doned taxpayer-funded broadband proj-
ects, leaving them half-finished, with
few consequences. That has to change.
Federal government contracts should
include clear benchmarks and buildout
requirements to make sure taxpayer dol-
lars aren’t wasted and all communities
are served.
As the government invests in new
broadband infrastructure, it also has to
devote just as much energy to bringing
costs down. The internet isn’t accessible
if it’s not affordable. That goes double in
rural communities.
The first step is restoring net neutral-
ity. That’s the principle that when you
pay for access to the internet, you get to
go where you want online, without the
ISP erecting its own barriers or creating
toll lanes for certain websites or content.
President Donald Trump’s FCC over-
turned net neutrality, despite its over-
whelming popularity. That decision
hamstrung the FCC’s ability to effec-
tively police the broadband market-
place by obliterating its consumer pro-
tection authority over the providers. It’s
no surprise that big internet providers
responded by squeezing consumers to
pad their profits. Carriers hiked prices,
instituted unnecessary data caps and
imposed punitive charges on their cus-
tomers, even as the pandemic left mil-
lions of families isolated and dependent
on the internet to interact with the rest
of the world.
Restoring net neutrality and classi-
fying ISPs as Title II common carriers
would give the FCC the tools it needs
to protect consumers against these vam-
piric tactics.
I also urge the new administration to
use the current moment on antitrust to
finally go after the predatory telecom-
munications monopolies, which leave
millions of Americans with virtually
no choice when it comes to broadband
service. In fact, a recent study found
that 82 million Americans live under a
broadband monopoly. No wonder our
costs are so high and service is so poor.
There is no free market when it comes
to broadband.
The combination of competition and
regulation will create new incentives for
ISPs to expand service in rural commu-
nities and other underserved communi-
ties, and raise the quality of service in
places that already have it.
Finally, the government needs to
ensure, once and for all, that in com-
munities where the big ISPs decide it’s
not worth their time to serve, cities and
towns have the choice to operate their
own networks. Oregon communities like
Maupin and The Dalles have shown that
municipal broadband can catalyze rural
economies. So it is essential to knock
down the state laws that ban municipal
broadband service, even after decades of
proof that it works.
President Joe Biden has made the
smart judgment that it’s time for bold
solutions that actually make a differ-
ence on the ground, that people can see
for themselves. There’s no better way
to bridge the political divide than by
taking aggressive steps that tangibly
improve people’s lives. No area is better
suited for bold, aggressive action than
broadband.
Ron Wyden represents Oregon as a
democrat in the u.S. Senate.
IN ANy EcONOMIc SITuATION IT IS FOOLISH TO LEAVE MONEy ANd OPPORTuNITy uNTAPPEd.
IN OuR cuRRENT EcONOMIc STATE, AMERIcA cANNOT AFFORd TO MAINTAIN THE EcONOMIc
ANd OPPORTuNITy ISOLATION IN WHIcH HuGE SWATHS OF THE cOuNTRy SuFFER. IT cREATES
EcONOMIc SAcRIFIcE ZONES. ANd WHILE AccESS TO THE INTERNET IS NOT A SILVER BuLLET, AS
A SOcIETy WE KNOW THAT AccESS TO AFFORdABLE, RELIABLE BROAdBANd IS ONE ESSENTIAL
ELEMENT NEcESSARy TO SET THE RIGHT TEMPERATuRE TO GROW JOBS ANd OPPORTuNITy.
WRITER’S NOTEBOOK
Carlson touched the lives of North Coast performers
D
avid Carlson — who played the
soundtrack of the North Coast
theater world for over a decade
— died on the night of March 4 after a
long bout with cancer. He was 82.
When the Liberty Theatre inaugu-
rated its Steinway Model D concert grand
piano on Jan. 5, 2008, Carlson was one
of the performers. He
surprised the audience
by playing George Ger-
shwin’s “Rhapsody in
Blue,” which had pre-
miered in the same year
the Liberty opened its
doors. After Carlson
STEVE
brought the jazz clas-
FORRESTER
sic to a close, the aston-
ished audience jumped to
its feet.
Carlson loved the Liberty’s Stein-
way. “They have such power that they
can hold their own with an orchestra,” he
said. “It is one of the greatest instruments,
hands down. It’s in a class by itself.”
Many elements of Carlson’s adventur-
ous life were short-story material. He left
his Portland home at the age of 16 to play
in Los Angeles cocktail lounges. “I was
pushed out before my time,” he told me
in a 2011 interview.
From left, Valerie Ryan, the owner of the Cannon Beach Book Co., with David Carlson and
Kay Carlson in 2011.
He lived in New York, Miami, Dal-
las, Tucson and other cities. He played
on cruise ships in the Caribbean and the
Mediterranean. “I have enjoyed exten-
sive travel, and the music did it for me,”
he said.
One of his darkest and most entertain-
ing stories was of leading a jazz ensemble
on New Year’s Eve in a New York City
club that was owned by the mob. As he
desperately attempted to cope with sub-
par musicians and an especially incompe-
tent drummer, a mob underling expressed
his displeasure. The abiding memory of
that gig caused David and his wife, Kay,
never to go out on New Year’s Eve.
Before moving to Albuquerque, where
he died, Carlson and Kay lived in Gear-
hart. During those years, he touched
many lives in the theater community.
He accompanied musicals at the Coaster
Theatre in Cannon Beach. He was a
rehearsal pianist for operas produced by
the Astoria Music Festival. In those years,
he practiced four hours a day on his
Steinway Model O, built in 1924. During
his last years, Carlson devoted himself
to studying the piano scores of Johann
Sebastian Bach.
If you live on the North Coast for
more than a decade, you will discover
exceptional talents in all lines of work.
Carlson was one of the most accom-
plished, generous and sweet individu-
als my wife and I had the good fortune to
know.
Steve Forrester, the former editor and
publisher of The Astorian, is the president
and cEO of EO Media Group.