Pandemic Internet Aid Is Ending, But Digital Divide Remains
With stimulus measures stalled in Congress, the industry’s pledges to keep financially struggling families online are about to expire.
In March, Rakia Akter was confronted with a serious parenting problem. As the coronavirus pandemic grew worse, schools in Buffalo, New York, where she lives, were shutting down in-person classes and shifting entirely to online, distance learning. With her husband earning $30,000 a year working for FedEx while she stayed at home raising their children, money was tight. They couldn’t afford to pay for home internet. How, she wondered, would their 9-year-old and 7-year-old daughters be able to keep up with their classmates?
Eventually, Akter heard that the cable giant Charter Communications Inc. was giving away free internet access to help families in need during the lockdown. Akter signed up and, for the moment, her family’s remote-learning crisis was averted.