With so many school districts around the country working feverishly to implement distance learning programs, there is no better time to talk about the digital divide and a student’s right to education.
In today's world, internet access is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. Just as students cannot learn without proper shelter, nutritious food, and safe spaces, neither can they learn without the right tools. This isn’t an academic exercise: when these students leave school they will be ill-prepared to achieve in a fast-moving world dominated by digital technologies and constant change.
Because the future of 5G is not bound by the limitations of geography, it can serve as the primary backhaul technology—the virtual girders, trusses, cables, and concrete—to one day build the bridges so many need to cross the digital divide. But unless we act, millions of students will be, once again, left out of this equation. This isn’t something we, as a nation, can afford to let happen.