The Impact of Existing Cable-related Public Benefits

Implementation of the benefits derived from the cable franchise agreements have enabled and supported digital inclusion for the past ten years. For example,  the community media centers have had the operations and capital support and distribution platforms   to provide digital literacy and multimedia literacy services; the MHCRC community grants have supported digital technology for schools and nonprofits to provide digital inclusion services to their underserved communities; and the I-Net has assisted public agencies to provide robust Internet service to students, library users, and members of the public; many who would not otherwise have access to the Internet. All in all, evidence suggests that the past ten years would have looked starkly different for many of the communities included in this Study without the public benefits provided through the cable franchises.