News

F.C.C. Approves a $50 Monthly High-Speed Internet Subsidy

Missoula Valley Interent Coop

The four-member commission unanimously agreed to offer up to $50 a month to low-income households and up to $75 a month to households on Native American land for broadband service. The F.C.C. will also provide a one-time discount of up to $100 on a computer or tablet for eligible homes.

The money, aimed at low-income households, is part of an effort to bridge the access gap to broadband connectivity amid the pandemic.

 

Many thanks to Elvis Nuno for sharing

President & Head of Montana Operations
Pacific NW Rural Broadband Alliance
Main: 1 (406) 534-0040 ext 10
Cell: 1 (406) 304-7010
Web: https://www.nwbroadbandalliance.org

Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.

2 Comments

  1. Russ Fletcher on February 27, 2021 at 10:07 am

    Incumbents just won’t stop….

    This is a little concerning to see following this latest news:
    https://twitter.com/stopthecap/status/1365320301958090754?s=21
    “Just saw a forwarded confidential summary memo from a major national ISP outlining some of their strategy on the $50 internet service voucher program.

    Their strategy is “how do we capture as much of this money as possible (and use it as a cushion for our 2021 rate hikes).”

    They already believe the FCC will bungle this program because it is confusing, has too many eligibility requirements and will be under promoted. They expect 20% or less of qualified customers will apply, so they will allocate spending to promote it to targeted customers only.

    They already believe the FCC will bungle this program because it is confusing, has too many eligibility requirements and will be under promoted. They expect 20% or less of qualified customers will apply, so they will allocate spending to promote it to targeted customers only.

    They WON’T promote it to repeat late payers or those already on discount internet programs unless they are considering upgraded service. They WILL promote it to ex-customers who rolled off COVID promos/freebies, those calling to downgrade, and as a retention tool.

    Bottom line: they like free money and want as much as possible, but they don’t want to spend a lot of their own money trying to get it and are cautious about being left holding the bag or blamed by customers rejected for the discount.”

  2. nwbroadband on February 28, 2021 at 12:45 pm

    Commenting on behalf of the Pacific NW Rural Broadband Alliance and the Missoula Valley Internet Co-op, it’s important to understand where the power and advantage comes with the community owned and operated network models like ours (where by design we will never have “late payers” or customers having to constantly re-negotiate ever-changing rate or discount plans) this $50 subsidy would go towards bridging the economic part of the digital divide and ultimately end up equitably distributing these funds directly back to the tax payers that are funding this program (I.e. to our customers who host the relays that make up the bulk of our networks infrastructure). This program will not only directly benefit the economically disadvantaged, to help keep them supplied with high speed service, but continue to reward those relay operators that build our network.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.