Exclusive: Jamal Simmons Makes the Case for Broadband Internet Access for Poor & Underserved

The Hinterland Gazette speaks with former strategist to then-presidential candidate Barack Obama about bridging the digital divide and bringing broadband Internet access to inner cities and rural areas in the U.S.

Jamal Simmons (Creative Common)

I had the pleasure of recently speaking with Jamal Simmons. You will remember him as a strategist for then presidential-candidate Barack Obama. We talked about his involvement with the Internet Innovation Alliance and how important it is to bring broadband access to underserved and rural areas, including the inner cities across the United States. Here is Part I of my conversation and Jamal Simmons' comments:

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, gave testimony saying there are going to be over two million STEM jobs coming on line while we are getting fewer and fewer students graduating with Science and Math degrees. We must get our students engaged in STEM classes. I got involved with the Internet Alliance because getting access to broadband Internet access is important for black and Latino students to get into STEM careers.

We have lost two million manufacturing jobs from 2007, but we are gaining in Science & Technology jobs. Are people like you and I going to be able to take advantage of this shift. If people from the Caribbean, African Americans, Latinos, etc. aren't in line for these jobs, they won't get out of the high unemployment malaise.

Two partners and I ran a small technology business around messaging and ran that business out of cell phones and laptops. If it weren't for the ability to connect wirelessly where-ever we wouldn't have been able to run such an enterprise. If you are in a community where you use dial-up or a slower connection, cellphone calls are dropping, you can't run a business that way. That's where broadband Internet access comes in.

Some on the right have made the case that we shouldn't be subsidizing Internet access for the poor, but they have neglected to tell their readers and/or listeners that comes at virtually no cost to taxpayers. Our children deserve better and to be given the tools to succeed on a level playing field. We can't continue to scoff at the idea of helping the poor and underserved get a firm footing in this technological age. The next Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama or Warren Buffett could come from one of these communities.

Comcast Corporation has announced a partnership with several metro Atlanta school districts to educate families on a new program to offer discounted Internet access to low-income students. The program will be offered to families of students who qualify for free or reduced-priced school lunch. The families who qualify will receive broadband Internet for $9.95 a month with no activation fee, no modem rental and a voucher to purchase a computer for $149.99. It is time to shrink the digital divide that exists between the haves and the have-nots in this country. This is exactly what Jamal Simmons wants to see happen in this country. Stay tuned for Part II of this riveting interview.

Listen to audio of Janet Shan speaking with Jamal Simmons (Part I):



Did you know that 87% of blacks and Latinos use cellphone compared to 80% of the general population? To learn more fascinating details about bridging the digital divide, listen to Part II of my interview with Jamal Simmons: