A new government program is attempting to encourage Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to offer lower rates for low-income customers by distributing federal funds through the states. The only problem is that ISPs don't want to offer the proposed rates.
tech-policy/2024/07/isps-seeking-government-handouts-try-to-avoid-offering-low-cost-broadband/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:Ars Technica;cpos:1;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “> The U.S. government has received a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo signed by more than 30 broadband industry trade groups such as ACA Connects and the Fiber Broadband Association, as well as several state organizations. The letter raises “both a sense of alarm and urgency” about its ability to participate in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. The newly formed BEAD program provides more than $42 billion in federal funding to “expand access to high-speed Internet by funding planning, infrastructure, deployment, and adoption programs” in states across the country, according to the government. (NTIA).
The money goes first to NTIA and is then distributed to states after they get NTIA approval by submitting a low-cost broadband internet option. The ISP industries letter says a flat $30 per month fee for high-speed internet access is “completely independent of the economic realities of deploying and operating networks in the hardest-to-reach and highest-cost areas.”
The letter urges NTIA to review the rate for the low-cost service option proposed or approved thus far. have completed all phases of the BEAD program.
Americans pay an average of $89 a month for Internet access. New Jersey has the highest average bill, at $126 a month, according to a survey by A 2021 study by the found that 57 percent of households with an annual salary of $30,000 or less have a broadband connection.
