One blatantly obvious feature of the pandemic has been the skyrocketing reliance on smartphone and internet connections. With businesses shifting to remote work, schools to online learning, and in-person gatherings to social distancing, Internet usage is up 20-25 percent and voice calls are reaching new peaks.
This is a window into a perhaps already-here future that has us relying on our phones and internet connections like never before, and for policymakers, it’s going to require thoughtful decisions to ensure our country can meet the challenges ahead.
The resiliency of our communications networks in the face of unprecedented usage is thanks in large part to billions of dollars of investment by American companies. One report shows that the top ten technology, communications, broadband, and ecommerce companies had an estimated total domestic capital spending of $127 billion in 2019, up from $100 billion the previous year.
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