Should we call it Obama Internet? Or maybe Obama Broadband? Or let’s get creative and call it high-speed ObamaBand.
In his on-going effort to eliminate the Digital Divide the separates America’s rich from its poor, President Obama visited the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma to announce a pilot program designed to bring high-speed broadband internet service to low-income households in public housing.
“The internet is not a luxury, it’s a necessity,” the President said. Pointing out that Digital Divide, he also observed that that the Americans who “could benefit the most from the latest technology are the least likely to have it.”
ConnectHome, the official name of the President’s plan, will be rolled out on an aggressive scheduled — launching in 27 cities and 275,000 public-housing households with 200,000 children.
ConnectHome will work closely with a broad team of internet service providers, non-profit groups and private technology companies to deliver high-speed internet to a long list of low-income cities and tribal nations. The first cities to reap the benefits of this new program include Los Angeles, California, Newark, New Jersey, and Rockford, Illinois. Oklahoma’s Choctaw Nation, where Obama announced the program, will also be one of the first beneficiaries of the program.
Tech leader Google is deeply involved in ConnectHome. Four of the first cities have access to Google Fiber, the super-fast internet program developed by the internet search giant. According to the Washington Post, Google has pledged to offer free service “to people in selected public housing and will work with community organizations to help families with school-age children learn digital literacy.”
An impressive roster of other communications companies will also join in to bring low-cost internet to public housing residents in other cites. For example, electronics retailer Best Buy has agreed to offer extensive tech training to students in five ConnectHome launch cities.
And that’s just the beginning of private-sector involvement. Partner companies have already pledged to give more than $70 million to ConnectHome. And on top of that, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will kick in an additional $50,000 grant to help bring high-speed broadband internet access to the Choctaw Nation.
“Less than half of the poorest American households have a home Internet subscription,” Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro said, “and they face real barriers when trying to lift themselves up and better their lives because of it.”
The Washington Post reports that “4G wireless broadband is available to 98 percent of Americans, and 3 in 4 Americans use broadband at home. But there remain persistent gaps in who accesses the services, with low-income and rural Americans disproportionately affected by a lack of fast Internet. According to a Council of Economic Advisers issued brief, 90.1 percent of households where an adult received a college degree had Internet in 2013, compared to 43.8 percent of people with less than a high school education. It also shows that large swaths of rural areas in the South and Southwest have some of the nation’s lowest Internet adoption rates.”
Of course, we applaud the announcement of ConnectHome here at CheapInternet.com. The faster it spreads across the country and the sooner every American is online, the better off we will all be. What’s good for the poorest among us is good for all of us.
Source: Washington Post
Kesha D Scott says
I need internet because I have two boys ages 13yrs and 8yrs woth autism that really need internet to help them with learning etc.
CheapInternet.com Administrator says
Check out all the low-income internet plans available at this link:
https://www.cheapinternet.com/low-income-internet
Jerry Cavins says
These programs are invented for people that aren’t able to help themselves because of old age,physical disabilities[such as myself] and when you call about them the burden you have to go through to set it up is so much more than a diabled person can handle.Now I know why scrooge said ba hum bug.
Ruth Draper says
Me and my roommate both go to online College and need unlimited internet I don’t have any income at all and she’s on disability and can’t afford internet. I’m looking for low income or free internet. Please let me know if you know of a place. Thank you
sher says
Why does all the expensive games have to be played by ISP companies and cell phone companies? It is disgusting! Low income, be on free lunch pgm, must collect SSI and regular SS…blah, bah, bah! Everyone needs access. The kids need to learn how to use the internet, face it their schooling may soon be delivered by the internet. The majority of young adults are making min wage if working at all, try paying $600 a month for a 1 room studio, because if you want a job you must go where they are and live with the cost, do without food, clothes and cars much less even think about internet. The middle age are underwater with mortgages and family expenses. Their housing cost and daycare cost are so high most don’t even attempt to have internet, who has time to be home anyway. The seniors are struggling to make it and so many are alone so the internet opens a door into a world. It is a rip off. I would just like to get one price for all, a fair price. No games, no baffling with bullshit, no changing prices every qtr, no nasty cust service ppl, just 1 price, one service, and it be a fair price for all. No wonder everyone dreams of running off to live off the grid!
Glenna Sue Fleming says
i am very low income senior,i am paying att 41.00 a month for the cheapest internet i would like to know how i get some cheap internet thank you.
joyce beard says
I’m a senior citizen, low income trying to get and keep , a high speed internet! That will stay the same rate every month! President Obama, high speed broad band to low income family. I’m retired, my husband is on disability! Trying to make ends meet. In need of a low started up internet service, how do you apply for this devices? More information. I live in California San Bernardo county. Where can I get help!
Pamela says
Need help in college can’t afford high cost internet
Farid Yousif says
Thank you for the info and your services. to access the internet through the program by being a low income and the only way to get connected it has to be wirelessly do you provide such connection thank youand GOD blees
Kathryn Nelson says
When will at&T start providing wi fi for low income. How do we get in touch with them? Their phone number? Our son is on food stamps and is desperately in need of wireless internet. He lives in section 8. Thanks, KNelson
CheapInternet.com Administrator says
AT&T’s phone number is pretty easy to find, but it won’t help yet. Since it has not yet officially begun none of the service reps will know anything about the program.
Pamela J. Taylor says
Im disabled and get monthly check will I qualify.
CheapInternet.com Administrator says
Being disabled is not a qualification.
Dario Diez says
What about “senior citizens”? They have a lot of WISDOM to spread before they pass.
Mary Anne cosentino says
Is connect home just for families with students, if so, will there ever be a program for poor families without. Students, thanks.