As daily life becomes more digitized, growing concerns over inequity caused by the digital divide demand practical solutions. People increasingly rely on digital connectivity for work, health, education every aspect of life. This trend only increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, when much of society was forced to pivot large parts of their lives to digital means of communication and management. For some, the lack of existing access further exacerbated the disruption to everyday life that came with the abrupt transition to fully digital operations during the shutdowns and stay-at-home orders that occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The digital divide refers to the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern technology including telephones, TVs, computers, smartphones, and Wi-Fi and those that dont or have restricted access.

While it is sometimes assumed that the digital divide is limited to rural regions, that is largely untrue. Approximately 19 million Americans still lack access to fixed broadband service. In rural areas, approximately one-fourth of the population lack broadband, and in tribal areas, nearly one-third of the population lacks access. However, urban areas are suffering as well. For example, 70% of Detroits school-aged children dont have internet access at home. Detroit is not alone. Many urban areas across the country have limited to no access to internet services.

Social justice scholars have often brought up the digital divide as an equity issue, some even refer to it as digital redlining, viewing the disinvestment in digital infrastructure for less affluent or nonwhite communities as discrimination. When access to the internet is critical to tasks like completing homework, submitting job applications or socializing and networking, it is easy to see why some connect the digital divide to discrimination.SurgePays Is Using The ACP To Bridge The Digital Divide

SurgePays Inc. SURG is a Tennessee-based financial services technology and telecommunications provider with over 20 years expertise dedicated to providing services to underbanked and underserved communities across the country. It accomplishes this goal in two key ways.

First, SurgePays has created a nationwide network of convenience stores, bodegas and independent community markets where it offers a variety of financial services. These services include everything from cellular top-ups to prepaid gift cards and bill pay services, which empowers communities to be less reliant on Silicon Valley fintech companies which can often be predatory. Instead, help comes directly from the community, and community retailers turn into financial tech hubs.

SurgePays provides mobile broadband services directly to consumers under federal programs aimed at helping close the digital divide. When the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) launched in January, SurgePays continues to ramp up both online and boots on the ground sales teams to help the U.S. government achieve its goal of ensuring all Americans have access to high-speed broadband.

The ACP program is a crucial step toward digital equity. Households with income at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines are eligible for the ACP program. A household also can qualify for the program if a resident meets a list of certain criteria.

An estimated 48 million households qualify for the ACP program, and SurgePays is positioned to help meet this demand. These households represent over 120 million consumers, and SurgePays intends offer additional services to this underserved population.

SurgePays already has gained over 200,000 subscribers through the ACP program, mostly with street teams. This program is just beginning and SugrePays expects to expand teams into more states, grow on-line sales efforts as well as potentially offering ACP through the companys existing partnerships with local shops. The company has already announced a next milestone of 500,000 subscribers in 2023, which will greatly help communities affected by the digital divide.

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Featured photo by Frank Rolando Romero on Unsplash