Sen Wyden Leads Colleagues in Demanding Expanded Internet Access for Low-Income Americans Throughout COVIC-19 Crisis

Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) led a group of his colleagues to demand better mobile internet service for low-income Americans impacted by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The federal Lifeline service program, administered by the Federal Communications Commission, provides free and discounted voice, text and cellular internet service to 9 million low-income Americans. The senators requested Lifeline service providers take a number of steps to expand their service:

• Enable hotspot access for all Lifeline subscribers, so they can connect laptops or tablets to smartphones that support this feature;
• Ensure all Lifeline subscribers have access to 4G service, where available, with at least the same speed and priority of service that other resellers of mobile services of that network offer to their customers;
• Provide no-cost upgrades to existing subscribers using older smartphones provided by the Lifeline provider that lack hotspot functionality;
• Allow consumers to roll over some or all of their voice minutes and data allowances from one month to the next;
• Work with their network operator — such as AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile, who have all pledged to help American families during this crisis — to substantially increase the monthly data allowance beyond 3 GB, at no cost to Lifeline subscribers; and 
• Provide subscribers with clear instructions on how to access their smartphone hotspot capability, including via text message.

Joining Wyden were Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ed Markey (D-MA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen D-MD), Patty Murray (D-WA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).