Providing Internet Access to the Poor

Last June, Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, issued a challenge to the audience at a cable industry conference in Chicago. “You’ve connected two-thirds of Americans to broadband, and I applaud you for that,” he said, “Now, let’s work together to connect the last third.” Later that night Genachowski had dinner with cable executives and, according to the commission, asked them for help.

They obliged. On Nov. 9, the FCC announced “Connect to Compete,” a program designed to bring lower-income Americans online. In 2010, 31 percent of Americans lived in areas where broadband was available but chose not to pay for it. Of these, slightly more than a third cited cost of service and devices as the main reason. Now households with at least one child in the federal free school lunch program can buy broadband Internet access for $10 a month and relatively new, fast, refurbished computers for $150. (To qualify for free lunches, a family of four must have income below $29,055.) The commission estimates the program could reach between 15 million and 25 million Americans—and won’t cost taxpayers anything.