Bipartisan efforts to bring high-speed broadband to every rural community — including the $42 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program — aim to bridge these gaps. Unfortunately, the process of realizing “Internet for All” has run into significant challenges and frustrating delays, even before the recent election raised larger questions about the program’s future.
The digital divide is particularly pronounced among immigrant rural and Latino communities. A Pew Research Center survey earlier this year found that Latinos are significantly less likely to have home broadband than non-Hispanic whites (83% vs. 75%). There are approximately 2.4 million farm workers in the U.S., the vast majority — 78% — of which identify as Hispanic, and many live in one of the 10% of homes nationwide that still lack access to wired broadband services, including parts of California’s Central Valley.
Building out the network infrastructure to reach unserved rural areas isn’t as simple as writing a check. Network builders need to wait for permits from state and local governments, and sometimes even the federal government. They also need access to the easements electric utilities and co-ops rely on to run wires along or across private property, as well as permission from the utilities before they can attach network cables to utility poles alongside thousands of miles of rural highways.
Unfortunately, disputes regarding access to these utility poles, including who should bear the costs associated with fixing or replacing old poles, pose serious delays to rural broadband expansion. While state and federal law require investor-owned utility companies to make their poles available to broadband providers at a reasonable cost, municipal utilities and rural co-ops are exempt from this requirement.
Elected officials should streamline the process so that the work of providing internet access for all can get underway faster. For instance, Congress can speed up the permitting process while updating the law to make clear that municipal utilities and co-ops have to let broadband providers use their poles. States can help by making sure their laws let broadband network builders utilize the same easements that electric utilities have already secured for stringing wires along private land.
Rural America, including the millions of farmworkers who support our food system, deserve all the opportunities that an internet connection can unlock. Now is the time for Congress, federal agencies and state leadership to follow through on the promise of internet for all.
Ron Estrada is the CEO of Farmworker Justice, a national advocacy organization for farmworkers.
© 2025 the Merced Sun-Star (Merced, Calif.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.