1Broadband and Employment: African Americans’ 
Use of the Internet in Job Search
Opening Remarks - Commissioner Mignon Clyburn
November 6, 2013
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Good morning. It’s always a pleasure to join the Joint Center and share the 
stage with my dear friend and fellow South Carolinian, Ralph Everett. I wish 
to thank the Joint Center for not only hosting today’s panel discussion but
for publishing the Broadband and Jobs study.
One of our number one priorities at the FCC is to maximize the benefits of 
broadband for all and as the FCC’s National Broadband Plan stated in its 
opening paragraph, “Broadband is a foundation for economic growth, job 
creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life.”
This enabler of new technologies, industries and incredible new 
possibilities is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity.  Broadband is essential 
to getting an education, receiving quality health care, and staying 
connected with family and community. And as today’s report affirms, 
broadband is increasingly essential to find a job, especially for communities 
of color.
2What caught my attention is that 50% of African Americans deemed 
the Internet as “very important” in helping them successfully finding a job,
compared to 36% for the rest of the sample population.
71% of African-Americans found that being without a smartphone 
was a disadvantage during a job search, compared to 34% of the rest of 
the sample.
And although African-Americans lag in broadband adoption at home,
access to the Internet is comparable to Whites when you factor in 
smartphones.
What this report helps make clear is that people need access to 
broadband to be full participants in the global economy. Broadband 
connectivity is critical to economic opportunity and has a cascading effect,
because Internet access helps one become digitally literate. Being digitally 
literate means a person can leverage the Internet to find a job, but being 
digitally literate also means, that a person can leverage the Internet to 
harness all the benefits from our digital economy. 
So what is the FCC doing to connect more Americans to broadband?  
3I’m proud that after years of good-faith attempts fell short, a bipartisan 
FCC was finally able to come together and modernize our universal service 
programs for the Internet age.
We’ve taken the outdated, inefficient Universal Service Fund, and 
transformed it into the new Connect America Fund, which has made 
significant new funding available to quickly expand broadband 
infrastructure to rural communities in every region of the nation.
Another key universal service initiative is our E-rate program. Created 
in the late 1990s, E-rate helps schools and libraries obtain affordable 
telecommunications services, broadband Internet access, and internal 
network connections. 
As educators across the country integrate digital content into their 
lesson plans, faster speeds and additional capacity are needed to 
accommodate all of the interactive educational uses and promises of digital 
learning. 
In fact, in a 2010 FCC survey of schools and libraries, nearly half of 
the responses reported lower Internet connectivity speeds than the average 
American home. We must do better to ensure that students, teachers, and 
4the millions of citizens who use libraries each year, have access to the 
tools they need to compete and succeed in the digital age. 
President Obama challenged the FCC to bring high-speed Internet to 
99% of U.S. students within five years, and we are answering his call.
This summer, we kicked off our efforts to modernize E-rate to achieve 
greater connectivity across schools and libraries. In particular, we’ve 
identified three proposed goals to modernize the E-rate program:
(1) ensuring schools and libraries have affordable access to high-
capacity broadband;
(2) promoting cost-effective purchasing; and 
(3) streamlining our program administration. 
As we move forward, this effort will require coordination across 
communities and multiple stakeholders and I am confident that together,
we can modernize E-rate to achieve these goals.  
We’ve also been hard at work to do our part to ensure that broadband 
is affordable.  I believe that the Lifeline program can do the same for 
broadband service affordability that it has done for telephone service 
affordability. 
5That is why I supported the FCC’s 2012 Lifeline reforms, which made 
addressing broadband affordability a stated goal of the Lifeline program. 
The Commission is conducting pilot projects to determine the best way to 
address the digital divide for low-income consumers in the Lifeline program.
Consumer groups and civil and human rights organizations can help 
ensure that the Lifeline Program remains a viable low-income consumer 
program. Informing your constituents about the benefits and importance of 
Lifeline as well as the eligibility requirements and how to properly enroll, will 
go a long way toward making sure those who are eligible for Lifeline 
receive it.  
I wish to once again thank the Joint Center for being an invaluable 
partner in this effort to connect all Americans. Today’s report sheds new 
light on the path forward which convinces me that by working together, we 
will indeed realize the promise of broadband for all Americans. 
Thank you.