FCC Unveils Tool for Spotting Broadband Deserts, Health Disparities

A web-based mapping tool to flag areas of the country that have no access to high-speed internet and high levels of people with chronic diseases was unveiled by the FCC Aug. 2.

With that information, the FCC hopes to spur public and private efforts to expand internet access and telemedicine opportunities to rural areas. Rural Americans without access to broadband internet tend to have higher rates of chronic disease because they also typically lack access to health services, FCC commissioners said.

“Broadband connectivity has become a social determinant of health along with income, education and rurality,” Federal Communications Commission ...