In 2020, I watched countless headlines in Houston media that chronicled the absence of thousands of students that were missing from class. Yet the students did not disappear, they simply were not able to attend classes during the global pandemic because they lacked access to devices and the internet.

This issue of the digital divide wasn’t unique to Houston, the disparity in internet access was happening across America. In fact, in 2019, the Federal Communications Commission estimated that over 20 million Americans didn’t possess strong broadband access.

In  July, I was tasked to lead a new nonprofit organization in Houston called Link Health. At Link Health, our organization leverages the health sector to connect patients to the Affordable Connectivity Program and close the digital divide in healthcare.

The organization was founded by an emergency room physician and Harvard University Professor, Dr. Alister Martin, who tapped university students to serve as fellows and digital equity ambassadors. The fellows and ambassadors are placed in clinics and hospitals to actively enroll patients into the Affordable Connectivity Program while they wait to see the doctors. These college students are attacking the problem with fervor and urgency!

In Houston, over 400,000 households are eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program, but there has only been a 30% adoption rate. Through our partnership with healthcare systems like Legacy Community Health, San Jose Clinic and Lone Star Health Center we have an opportunity to enroll over 200,000 people who are current patients of those systems. In our work, we found that many of those patients that are eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program need support in completing the application, uploading documentation and then getting the actual discount applied to their internet service account. Our team is there from start to finish in this process.

Although our program is new, we have found success in our clinic- to- community partnerships. Our team has screened over 10,000 patients and enrolled almost 1,000 families into the program. We estimate that through Affordable Connectivity Program enrollments we have helped families save over $290,000 on home internet and our work is just beginning.

We recognize that the Affordable Connectivity Program is slated to sunset when the funds are exhausted. However, in the meantime, our student-led organization will continue to meet people where they are. We will move forward with bringing on new clinical partners and guiding their patients to receive access to these necessary discounts. To broaden our reach, we are sharing resources and marketing material for community health sites that include posters, RX discharge paperwork, brochures and other graphics that promote the ACP.

While news stations are no longer constantly covering stories about students’ connectivity challenges, the issue is still extremely prevalent in many communities. At Link Health we want to assist eligible families in connecting to the internet so that they have access to other resources like telehealth. Opening up access to the internet is one sure fire way to address social determinants of health and we are poised to connect people to the world.

Ar’Sheill Monsanto is the manager of Link Health, which connects patients to broadband access. This piece is exclusive to Broadband Breakfast.

Broadband Breakfast accepts commentary from informed observers of the broadband scene. Please send pieces to commentary@breakfast.media. The views expressed in Expert Opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of Broadband Breakfast and Breakfast Media LLC.

LAS VEGAS, October 10, 2023 – A panel urged broadband providers on Tuesday not to fear approaching healthcare centers with telehealth plans at WISPAPALOOZA, the annual conference of small and fixed wireless broadband providers.

“Don’t write them off just because they’re outside your comfort zone or what you’re used to,” said Max Joseph, a business development manager at AT&T. “There’s huge potential to market to these communities.”

Hospitals, doctor’s offices, and clinics often want to provide telehealth – services like counseling and appointments conducted via the internet, said Layne Sisk, CEO of broadband consulting firm ServerPlus. But healthcare providers often lack the technical knowledge to implement the service on their own. 

Photo of the panel at WISPAPALOOZA by Jake Neenan

In rural areas, implementing telehealth can involve getting connected to adequate broadband for video calls.

“To them, this is overwhelming. This is like magic,” he said.

The panel cited HIPAA, the law outlining privacy protections for patient health data, as a common concern preventing broadband providers from approaching healthcare clinics and getting them connected.

But HIPAA requirements, said Vonda Dilley, a sales manager at broadband provider Horizon Connects, are not distributed equally on a network. If a broadband provider only serves a clinic with internet connectivity, its compliance requirements are lower than the clinic’s internal IT systems and patient portal.

“You’re considered a conduit,” she said.

Expanding telehealth in rural areas can benefit those communities by giving them easier access to healthcare, plus specialists that are physically far away.

“The idea behind this is not just to make it more convenient, it’s a better quality of care,” Sisk said.

He pointed to a counseling center that operates in the same building as his office. During the pandemic, he said, that counseling center was able to see patients with more severe mental health because of the easier access to remote sessions.

The Federal Communications Commission launched a three-year pilot program in 2021 to study the impacts of making telehealth a permanent part of the Universal Service Fund, a roughly $8 billion yearly internet subsidy program.

In 2011 at the MoBroadbandNow Summit in Missouri, I listened to the CIO of the City of Springfield explain why his city included teenagers in important broadband needs assessment and planning meetings. “In your home, who do you call when you’re trying to figure out how to use the VCR?”

His point? Springfield learned a valuable lesson: Teens push the edges of technology, and understand how to use technology better than many adults do. Therefore, it is imperative to include teenagers in the planning of what is and will be their main future technologies. The brain power and the creativity alone will lead to the success of tapping this demographic.

Fast forward to 2023. How many communities are leveraging their teen populations in the pursuit of broadband and digital equity? “Kids want to get a look into the future,” said Kevin Morris in a video. “That’s the thing that drives many of them in school.” Morris talks to many students as the director of college, careers and community services for the Duarte Unified School District.

What about their future in broadband, I wondered, when a friend talked to me about her efforts to recruit internship positions for the K12 Foothill Consortium? Many of the high school students in the Consortium are anxious to intern remotely or in-person near their homes in Southern California. It hit me — take the Springfield model of teen engagement to the rest of America!

Imagine the possibilities for local broadband or digital equity teams, local government and nonprofits if they can channel bright, tech-savvy, energetic, inquisitive teens on a mission to help bring the digital equity solutions to communities. Remote or in person interns can help with focus groups, town halls logistics, preparing and writing newsletters, usability testing and Affordable Connectivity Program enrollments.

The K12 Foothill Consortium is recruiting internship hosts for the June through August period and for at least 60 hours total. Those groups and organizations engaged with broadband and digital inclusion projects get the benefit of interns’ prior training in coding, health care, web design, engineering and other related disciplines. Since interns prefer paid internships, the Consortium also raises money for organizations that may be too cash-strapped to offer a stipend but can offer meaningful internships.

Photo of Career Technical Education students courtesy of the K12 Foothill Consortium

Internship hosts view the relationships as a win-win for everyone involved. Ivan Ayro, director of adult and career technical education at Charter Oak Unified School District, agrees. “Students are able to connect the educational experience they’re getting from Career Technical Education classes with real-life experience from workplace learning. Through the internships, many of our students are able to realize in high school if this is something that they want to do for the rest of their lives.”

A recent US News & World Report article states that, although internships are traditionally for college students, high school students increasingly are participating in them. Benjamin Caldarelli, co-founder of Princeton College Consulting, a New Jersey-based educational consulting company, said, “High school students want to work somewhere that interests them and potentially make what they feel is a more meaningful contribution. They see internships as an enrichment activity and opportunity to make an impact rather than simply trading time for a little money.”

More than 205,000 new jobs will need to be created to complete the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment expansion plans, many of them skilled workers. “There is a lot of focus placed on building broadband networks, but we cannot build them without a proper workforce,” Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton said in a press release. “Failure to ensure the availability of high-skilled labor will result in workforce bottlenecks, which will ultimately lead to higher costs and project delays.”

The National Telecommunications and Information Association is requiring every state to have a five-year workforce development strategy. FBA published a guidebook to help states develop that strategy. Broadband and digital inclusion teams need to pencil in “internships” as part of their plans.

High school broadband and digital inclusion interns may not be considered skilled workers, obviously, but the interns should be considered the beginning levels of workforce development campaigns in every community. Start people thinking about broadband and all things digital in high school and use internships to shape their college or post-high school plans. Don’t forget that Gen Z can be an important part of broadband discussions, even if they’re not interns.

Amy Foell, principal of Amy Foell Consulting LLC, heads the K12 Foothill Consortium for Azusa, Charter Oak, Duarte and Monrovia Unified School Districts’ CTE. Their mission is to educate and train students to provide a community-sourced talent pool to sustain a healthy, balanced, local economy. Foell also supports workforce development programs across the San Gabriel Valley, including Pasadena Unified School District.

“I like to have an initial phone call and 15 to 20 Zoom sessions to ensure prospective internship sites understand the program,” said Foell. “Before we meet, it’s advisable to create a brief description of the internship project — be sure to share the organization’s purpose and mission. We’ll help hosts identify and interview candidates in May to early June, and students can start mid-June.”

Craig Settles conducts needs analyses, planning, and grant assessments with community stakeholders who want broadband networks and telehealth to improve economic development, healthcare, education and local government. This piece is exclusive to Broadband Breakfast.

Broadband Breakfast accepts commentary from informed observers of the broadband scene. Please send pieces to commentary@breakfast.media. The views expressed in Expert Opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of Broadband Breakfast and Breakfast Media LLC.