Congresswoman Cindy Axne hosted a roundtable on expanding access to rural broadband in Warren County Wednesday. Axne and Federal Communications Commissioner (FCC) Jessica Rosenworcel spoke with local elected officials, representatives from local economic development boards, community colleges, K-12 educators, state agencies, and small business owners to discuss the difficulties rural communities face due to a lack of access to broadband. Congresswoman Axne tells KNIA News not having internet access is a detriment to the growth of our area.

“We’ve got a lot of opportunity here in Iowa to make sure everybody has access, but we have a long way to go. The fact that we have people across our district and the state that aren’t able to communicate with people over the internet, really leaves us at an economic disadvantage, a public school disadvantage, and a health disadvantage to other places in the country. We have to close that gap so people have the services they need.”

Rosenworcel tells KNIA News the homework gap is the cruelest part of the digital divide. Children who don’t have high speed internet are at a serious educational disadvantage compared to those who do.