Affordability/Cost/Price

Many advocates are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to significantly expand its Lifeline program. More than 250 organizations called on the FCC to provide low-income households with unlimited talk and text plans. The groups have also asked the agency to create an emergency broadband benefit that would provide eligible households with $50 per month to cover the cost of high-speed internet connections, where they are available. Eric Null, US Policy Manager at Access Now, argues that the FCC should ensure the Lifeline program lives up to its name during this time.

In our “new normal” world, one could argue that broadband is no longer a luxury, subject to the cartel-like whims of a single local provider. Instead, higher education should reframe the discussion of whether high speed internet should be treated as a utility. Could we find anyone today who wouldn’t agree the internet is essential to our daily lives?

Charter announced it is expanding the eligibility for its 60-day free offer for Spectrum broadband Internet and Wi-Fi access to include educators (K-12 teachers and college/university professors) who do not already have a Spectrum account. During this unprecedented time, with the COVID-19 pandemic having forced schools, colleges and universities to close, it is more important than ever for students and educators to stay connected while they teach and learn. Educators, who live in a Spectrum market and do not currently have broadband, should contact Spectrum at 1-844-488-8395 to sign up.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai writes: "It might be hard to find hand sanitizer and toilet paper, but I’m happy to report that Internet access is proving to be one of the most valuable non-medical commodities right now." Is he forgetting the people on the wrong side of the digital divide?  

In San Antonio, schools, under a state directive, now must provide “remote instruction” and many will start March 30. Although several districts are offering curbside pickup of paper packets, lessons largely will be given online — further exacerbating the digital divide in a city with one of the nation’s biggest income gaps. Even in better times, students who don’t have ready access to computers and the internet face greater challenges completing homework and college applications.

A call to Congress to allocate up to $100 billion in subsidies, rebates and tax relief targeted toward broadband that would benefit people, not just companies. The money would fund a mix of emergency aid to get and keep people connected during the coming weeks of quarantine and increased reliance on internet access, along with broadband-affordability support for the coming months and years as the economy begins to recover from the effects of the pandemic.

For those residential and small business wireless customers whose economic circumstances have been impacted due to the coronavirus, Verizon is waiving overage charges in addition to our Keep Americans Connected pledge to not terminate service and waive late fees.

A Q&A with Chris Mitchell, director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance's Community Broadband Networks Initiative. 

Nationwide, approximately 22% of households don’t have home internet, including more than 4 million households with school-age children.

From Boeing to Verizon Communications, scores of US companies and industries are furiously lobbying Congress to add measures to the Trump administration’s massive stimulus package to deal with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, some of which address issues that long predate the outbreak.