FCC unveils proposal for $9.25/month low-income broadband subsidy

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

FCC unveils proposal for $9.25/month low-income broadband subsidy

By David Shepardson
Reuters
March 8, 2016

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission circulated Tuesday a final proposal seeking approval for a $9.25 monthly subsidy for low-income Americans to get broadband Internet access.

Since last year, the FCC has been considering revamping the $1.5 billion annual program, called Lifeline, which has helped lower income Americans get access to telecommunications technologies since 1985.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has said he wants to give those receiving the subsidy a choice of using it for phone services, high-speed Internet, or both. But households will get only a single $9.25 a month subsidy that would apply to both services. The program currently helps about 12 million U.S. households afford landline and mobile phones, according to agency estimates.

The commission will vote on the proposal at its March 31 meeting and will set a budget of $2.25 billion a year indexed for inflation for the program. The additional budget would allow more than 5 million additional households to take advantage of the program, but the FCC does not expect the entire budget will be used immediately.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/u-fcc-chairman-unveil-proposal-9-25-month-155009621--finance.html

[TexasProgresive]

1. And still no plan to get affordable H.S. internet to rural people. n/t

[scscholar]

2. Rural? How about getting it to cities too?

I have too many friends here in Seattle that are still stuck on dial-up. Comcast has the government-granted monopoly for most of the city, but they refuse to expand their coverage.

[JesterCS]

10. A friend of mine is 800 feet from the last pole

Time Warner won't run it to them, unless they pay for the poles, line, and labor cost. It's BS

[Kip Humphrey]

3. My Comcastic broadband with basic (and I do mean basic) cable is $108/mo. What good would

a $9 discount do for someone worse off than me? ANSWER: NOTHING!!! Because $99/month is no more affordable to a poor person than $108/month. I swear Washington could hardly get more tone deaf!

[djean111]

5. That's what I was thinking, too.

Now, if the poor could GET broadband for $9.25 or whatever, that would be different.
I wonder if the money will go straight to the providers, and then the poor can claim the subsidy if they can afford the rest of the bill.

[IronLionZion]

6. It can be had for as little as $10

it is possible with 4G wireless or DSL. There are also public options in some cities. If you are willing to switch, the new provider often has promotions for new customers. Some of my neighbors switch every year.

FreedomPOP 1GB can be gotten for free:

http://www.reviews.com/internet-service-providers/cheap/

Comcast has a low cost service with income restrictions to qualify: http://www.cheapinternet.com/

4G is better than people think. That's what I use all day for my work laptop.

[passiveporcupine]

4. The government needs to help bring down the cost

and bring up the speed and make internet available to "everyone". If we are going to continue to compete in a global world, where the internet is one of the best sources of information for most people, this should be considered as important as education. It should be a priority.

It's also become an important tool for commerce as well...especially for people living in rural areas where shopping online may be their only alternative for items they need but can't find locally, or for elderly and disabled people who have trouble getting out and about to shop. I am doing a lot of shopping online lately, because of this.

[ToxMarz]

7. It doesn't sound like anything that would really be helpful, just lipstick on a pig

If they are talking about helping families making less than $25,000 a year. I don't know if you can get internet for less than like $40 a month, so to get the $9.95 subsidy they have to take on and additional $30.05 a month expense there is probably no way they can afford. But hey, we gave them this and they squandered it, so why should anyone even try to help them in the future if they can't help themselves.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. We pay 65.00 a month for phone/internet

Do not have reliable streaming, except late at night
but
can surf well, download stuff and most importantly...NO data caps.
Affordable for us now, esp. since we no longer pay for tv hook up.

[corbettkroehler]

8. An Obama 2008 Promise Coming To Fulfillment

It should not have taken nearly this long but remains important progress!