FCC Proposes Subsidized Broadband For The Poor
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1CK1S
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Although it seems like everyone has easy access to the Internet these days, that’s not the case for many low-income Americans. A proposal from the Federal Communications Commission could help bridge the digital divide between the rich and poor in the United States.
FCC chairman Tom Wheeler has proposed expanding Lifeline, a program that helps poor Americans with their phone bills, to also provide subsidized broadband Internet access.
While 95 percent of households with annual incomes of more than $150,000 have broadband at home, less than 48 percent of households earning less than $25,000 yearly have home Internet, the FCC said.
“Over a span of three decades, [Lifeline] has helped tens of millions of Americans afford basic phone service. But as communications technologies and markets evolve, the Lifeline program also has to evolve to remain relevant,” Wheeler said in a blog post.
According to the FCC, more than half of poor Americans have been forced to cancel or suspend their smartphone service because of money issues, which further limits broadband access.
“Because low-income consumers disproportionately use smartphones for Internet access, this puts them at a disadvantage at a time when broadband access is essential for access to education and information, for managing and receiving health care, for daily tasks like accessing government services, checking bank balances, finding bargains on goods and services, and more,” the FCC said.
The commission is expected to vote on the issue June 18.
Bloomberg said the proposal by Wheeler, a Democrat, to expand the Lifeline program to include broadband access has already drawn harsh criticism from Republicans like Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana. In an emailed statement, Vitter said:
Why the FCC wants to expand this program before addressing the regular reports of ongoing fraud is beyond me. I cannot support any expansion of a program that has so few safeguards in place.
Vitter is the chairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, which has been investigating the effectiveness and efficiency of the Lifeline program.
Lifeline, which is supported by fees tacked on to telephone subscribers’ bills, offers a monthly $9.25 subsidy. The Lifeline program cost $1.6 billion in 2014.
The FCC didn’t say what effect the proposed change may have on those fees — currently set at 17.4 percent of a portion of monthly bills — or on the number of program participants,” Bloomberg said.
Comments
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I'm against it. McDonald's has free WiFi.
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babelipsss wrote: »I'm against it. McDonald's has free WiFi.
Shut up.
The law gives everyone the rights to have access to the Internet. -
It was a joke. Don't be so sensitive. I love poor people. I actually hate Mcdonalds.
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I don't see a problem here.
Even in the 1st grade, my daughter has needed internet access to maximize her schooling.
This is 2015, internet access is crucial. -
Internet companies and the politicians they own will fight it.
Communities and cities have tried to create free internet for people in the city many times only to find "representatives" that want to outlaw it. this particular story is from Texas
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Internet companies and the politicians they own will fight it.
Communities and cities have tried to create free internet for people in the city many times only to find "representatives" that want to outlaw it. this particular story is from Texas
Yeah, the inability of cities and states to create municipal broadband is a major issue. If it was overturned, more people would get access, and there would be more competition, which should improve service and reduce prices.
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? no america is not a welfare state
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My ? taxes going to pay for your internet access??? ? no
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they only gon let po folks receive propaganda sites.
Or .000000000000000000000001 bit per sec
Lowest priority QoS
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I just saw kingsman. I don't trust this ? lol
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My ? taxes going to pay for your internet access??? ? no
Your taxes pay cops to ? people
Your taxes pay for government programs involving biochemical warfare.
Your taxes pay for politicians to get a lap dance and gas money
Shall we go on? -
I don't want my taxes to pay for any of that so you don't have a ? point. -
Supporting what taxes go to isn't a prerequisite to paying them
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atribecalledgabi wrote: »Supporting what taxes go to isn't a prerequisite to paying them
I don't want my taxes providing internet for you. Pay your own ? Bill like everyone else.
And people put pressure to make sure taxes don't go to program they disagree with all the ? times -
Sounds like it might be feasible.
It would probably be 1 Mbps (125kb) running off a dsl setup. Probably even slower than that. -
atribecalledgabi wrote: »Supporting what taxes go to isn't a prerequisite to paying them
I don't want my taxes providing internet for you. Pay your own ? Bill like everyone else.
And people put pressure to make sure taxes don't go to program they disagree with all the ? times
Lol I'm not disagreeing with you bruh I'm just saying nobody supports everything their taxes go to. and there are worse things than some internet -
This'll help a lot of kids from low income homes since schools are startin' to assign online homework.
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This will go a long way to actually saving America money. Everything is streamlined and online now from Job applications to government forms. If people are able to get more done online, it will increase access to educational and governmental resources, aptitude, and self sufficiency. It will also get more low income people into the sciences as they become more aware of the power of technology.
