FCC approves a $50/month high-speed internet subsidy for low-income households and a one-time discount of up to $100 on a computer or tablet for eligible homes
Eligible low-income households receive up to $50 a month toward high-speed internet and up to $100 off a computer or tablet, reducing both service and device costs.
Broadband providers and device sellers gain federally supported demand from qualifying homes.
Second-order effects
Providers serving eligible households have an incentive to participate and market qualifying plans, making enrollment and plan availability central to whether the subsidy reaches homes.
The device discount makes the broadband benefit more usable for households without suitable computing hardware, linking service adoption to access to computers and tablets.
Third-order effects
The FCC is broadening the model of broadband affordability policy from Lifeline's smaller recurring benefit toward combined support for connectivity and the equipment needed to use it.
If this approach persists, household broadband access will depend more directly on federally funded subsidies and provider participation than on retail pricing alone.
The trend: US broadband policy is shifting toward treating both internet service and end-user devices as linked components of household digital access.
Broadband is an essential part of 21st century life - especially during this pandemic. I'm thrilled by this move from the @FCC and @JRosenworcel, which will help ensure that more Americans can access the internet's opportunities, no matter their income. https://www.nytimes.com/..…
This unanimous vote establishes a federally funded #broadband discount program to help households afford internet service during the #COVID19 pandemic. The FCC intends to open the program to eligible households within 60 days. Details here: https://www.fcc.gov/... #FCCGov
FCC approves emergency broadband benefit: • $50/mo to low-income households; one-time $100 discount on a device • Available within 60 days • ISPs are still needed Families with kids on free or reduced lunch are among the eligible. https://www.nytimes.com/... (@nytimes) #edtech
The @FCC's rules for the $3.2B emergency broadband benefit program have officially been released. @BrendanCarrFCC, approving in part/concurring in part, raised concerns about the commission delegating certain decisions to the Wireline Bureau or USAC. https://communicationsdaily.c…
The @FCC released its final rules for the $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program this afternoon. At first glance, it looks like it included many of the recommendations made during the comment period. Story TK. Meantime, here's the 95-page order: https://docs.fcc.gov/...
Low-income Americans will soon be able to receive a $50 discount on their monthly internet service bills after the FCC unanimously approved plans to establish a $3.2b program during the pandemic. https://www.axios.com/...
Great news! This credit will provide much-needed support to struggling families, who rely on Internet access for work and school during the pandemic. I'm glad to see @FCC implement this subsidy @EnergyCommerce included in the #COVID19 relief bill Congress passed in December. http…
I can only hope that this isn't as convoluted and difficult to get as the famed and illusory $10 DSL that was mandated a decade or so ago. https://www.techmeme.com/...
American consumers deserve #netneutrality protections. Today's decision clearly affirms the states' authority to step in where the majority of the last @FCC dropped the ball. I look forward to working with policy makers at all levels of government on this critical issue. https://…
We have no capacity to provide public goods, so we instead provide technocratically complicated substitutes that burden intended recipients with the task of public administration. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Yes. Yes. Yes. Amazing work, @JRosenworcel @freepress and everyone who's fighting to fix the digital divide. Now let's make high-speed home internet access a public utility and let Americans catch up to the world. https://www.nytimes.com/...