In a market driven highway, the balance between treatment of information as a commodity, and treatment of information as a resource of political and social value, is much harder to maintain. Percentages represent portion of all Latino households nationwide in each income bracket. Federal Communications Commission, November 1993. For those who could not afford access to a telephone, a rate structure was devised to offer subsidies to low-income households. Besides the issue of affordability, there has been concern for open access.
Open access has two dimensions.
First, access involves whether households will achieve open connections with libraries, schools, businesses, and government institutions. An individual or a school may have a computer donated by industry, but without the training and education needed to navigate the channels of information, its value will be limited. These basic questions must be answered to ensure that Latinos can afford and make use of the information highway. While technology has the potential to support democratic principles, without a guiding social contract the highway may further separate our already segmented society. Many of the advanced communications services now being tested have the potential to benefit all sectors of society as long as policymakers address equity issues.