Funding Public Computing Centers: Balancing Broadband Availability and Expected Demand

The National Broadband Plan (NBP) recently announced by the FCC visualizes a significantly enhanced commitment to public computing centers as an element of the Commission’s plans for promoting broadband availability (FCC, 2010). The Plan states that “every American community should have affordable access to at least 1 gigabit per second broadband service to anchor institutions such as schools, hospitals and government buildings” (p. 10). Funding-eligible institutions will include “health clinics, community colleges, schools, community centers, libraries, museums, and other public access points” (p. 154) with the expectation that they will serve as anchor institutions for their local communities, and deliver digital literacy, job training, continuing education, and entrepreneurship programs with support from government funds. The NBP also advocates expanded funding commitment to the Community Connect program, which provides free Internet access to residents with the goal of facilitating economic development and enhancing educational and health care opportunities in rural communities. In parallel, the NTIA too has channelized part of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) funding to Public Computing Centers (PCCs) (NTIA, 2010a).The use of PCCs, also called telecenters, or community technology centers (CTCs), to increase telecommunications access, has become increasingly common the world over (Liu, 2009; Haselhof, 2005; Fuchs, 1998). In the United States, however, PCCs have been commonly regarded as interim or transitional arrangements until universal household access can be achieved: for example, Fuchs (1998) observed that whereas telecenters play an important role in the initial diffusion of technologies, their importance is reduced over time, and they need to either redefine their mission or dissolve. The NTIA, in its Falling Through the Net report observed that “(p)art of the short-term answer [to the digital divide] lies in providing internet access at community access centers (CACs), such as schools, libraries, and other public access facilities (reprinted in Compaine, 2001, p. 40). Viseu et al (2006) identify a short-term orientation in CTC policies, despite that fact that public infrastructures complement and intertwine with private access in unique and unpredictable ways that enhance the utility of bothmodes of access.