The billion-dollar remote work opportunity that rural America can't reach

The United States has poured billions into extending broadband to rural communities, but in this Fortune commentary Bob Hellman argues that the money is at risk of building networks that no one uses. The problem, the American Infrastructure Partners CEO writes, is that public programs have focused almost entirely on access, such as towers, last-mile upgrades, and reaching remote areas, while largely ignoring adoption. The adoption numbers tell their own story. As recently as 2021, nearly one in five rural households did not subscribe to broadband, and of those, almost a quarter said they simply were not interested. That is a matter of relevance, Hellman stresses, not affordability or technical skill.

He frames the gap as generational as much as geographic. By 2023, broadband adoption had climbed above 80 percent among younger rural adults but fell off sharply with age, to about 71 percent for those 65 to 74 and just 68 percent for those over 75. Even where service is available, uptake lags. Hellman cites a study of rural Missouri where most early adopters used their connections mainly for entertainment, with only about half touching applications such as telehealth or remote work. The stakes, he argues, are economic. Counties with high broadband adoption see stronger job growth, more self-employment, and larger income gains, and remote work now accounts for roughly 22 percent of the U.S. workforce, about 32 million Americans, up from just 6 percent before the pandemic. Yet while three-quarters of mid-career rural workers say they would train for remote jobs, most have not, often because they lack the very connectivity that would let them start.

Hellman draws a historical parallel to mid-20th-century rural electrification and telephone service, which also required outreach, financing, and cultural adaptation, not just infrastructure, to change behavior, especially among older residents. He points to the Affordable Connectivity Program as a partial success that nonetheless failed to close the gap, because those who benefited most were already inclined to value broadband. Rural clinics that invested in telehealth, he notes, often found older patients still preferred phone calls, and employers report remote roles going unfilled because applicants lack digital confidence.

His prescription is what he calls the real last mile, a social strategy rather than a purely physical one. It would be built around local institutions where trust already exists, such as schools, libraries, and clinics, plus digital-navigator programs that train community leaders to help residents get online, and even a year of free service so people can discover how broadband fits their daily lives. Without that local engagement, Hellman warns, young people will leave in search of digital opportunity while older adults grow more isolated, and the return on all that network investment will fall short. The federal government, he concludes, has built the physical foundation, and the next phase is giving people a concrete reason to log on, whether a doctor's visit from home, homework help, or a remote job that pays a city salary from a rural kitchen table.