North Dakota, the new oil drilling capital of the world, is only the 32nd most connected state. This despite the fact that it is home to 80 different broadband providers.
There are 2,000 people in North Dakota with no access to broadband. No cable. No DSL. No fixed wireless. No mobile internet. Nothing.
Of the 725,000 North Dakotans, 16,000 have access to only one wired provider. Of course, that means ISP (internet service provider) can old them hostage, raise rates, or alter the terms and conditions of their contract. Because those people have no competitive options). Unfortunately, 38,000 residents struggle with low data caps because their only sources of internet access are fixed wireless or mobile broadband.
Even with the oil drilling boom that’s going on in North Dakota, the new wealth hasn’t trickled down to the state’s poor. Its overall poverty rate is 11.8%. Its child poverty rate is 13%. Its senior poverty rate is 9%. And its extreme poverty rate is still too high at 5.3%.
But fear not, because CheapInternet.com knows a number of ways you can get high-speed broadband internet access at prices far cheaper than you ever imagined possible.
Low-Income Internet Options
Here is the internet’s most complete list of companies and organizations that offer low-income Americans low-cost, high-speed internet access. And when we say low-cost, we’re talking about plans whose prices range from free to $14.95 per month for broadband internet. Different companies offer different prices, different types of Internet (i.e., cable, DSL or mobile), and different ways to qualify, so check them all out to see which low-income program is right for you. Click on any of the programs below to see full details on what they offer.
- ConnectAll
- CenturyLink’s Internet Basics
- Midco
- Frontier Communications
- EveryoneOn
- PC’s for People
- Coming soon: Lifeline Broadband
Other Low-Cost Internet Options
What if you want to sign up for a cheap internet plan, but don’t qualify under the rules of the plans shown above? Or what if none of those plans are offered in your area? Luck may still be on your side, because there are other low-cost plans available for you if you know where to look. And at CheapInternet.com, we know where to look. Here’s a brief review of other low-cost options
- 4G Community
- Karma
- FreedomPop Mobile Internet
- FreedomPop Home Internet
- NetZero DSL
- NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband
Lifeline Broadband Pilot Programs
The Lifeline Assistance program, which offers free government cell phones to low-income Americans, has helped millions of needy Americans. The program has been so successful that the Federal Communications Commission decided to investigate the possibility of creating a similar program called Lifeline Internet or Lifeline Broadband.
Fourteen cable companies and service organizations were selected by the FCC to test pilot programs in various regions around the country. The pilot programs looked into the impact of various pricing plans, discounts, and equipment.
We expect the FCC to announce the results of the pilot programs and perhaps even announce the introduction of an official Lifeline Broadband (or Lifeline Internet) program before the end of 2014. Although you can no longer sign up nor participate in these programs, you may be interested in seeing what the future of free internet may look like in your state.
Unfortunately, none of the Federal Communication Commission’s Lifeline Broadband Pilot Programs were conducted in North Dakota.
Municipal Broadband Networks
Wikipedia defines a Municipal Broadband Network (often called Community Broadband Network) like this: “Municipal broadband deployments are broadband Internet access services provided either fully or partially by local governments. Common connection technologies include unlicensed wireless (Wi-Fi, wireless mesh networks), licensed wireless (such as WiMAX), and fiber-optic. Although many cities previously deployed Wi-Fi based solutions, municipal fiber-to-the-home networks are becoming more prominent because of increased demand for modern audio and video applications.”
Unfortunately, we have been unable to find any municipal broadband networks in North Dakota.
Shirley says
*Not just high-speed!* In fact, the coming of high-speed very likely caused the major Internet problems we have in Valley City.
With over 107,000 people in 2013 and a lot of growth since, I don’t think Fargo qualifies as a small town. Neither do Bismarck, Minot, or Grand Forks, with their Air Force bases and universities. But they don’t have Internet problems there. It is in smaller towns like Valley City (which has six to seven thousand people, though many more if you include rural people within its calling area) that they can take away our access.
Some smaller towns are lucky. If you look at the map on the BasicISP website, you will see many small towns listed among the 54 communities in the state that have local access numbers. Their $8.95 Internet is so fast that there isn’t much reason to spend even $3 more to get accelerated, which is more than 5 times as fast. Size probably makes less difference than whether the town is dominated by the elite and/or one phone company that won’t give access numbers.
Valley City is a university town too. Almost every North Dakota town of any size is, which helps make our population one of the best educated in the nation. All the more reason we should have affordable Internet options. Educated people tend to use it more, and many college students can’t afford the pricey versions.
Shirley says
Jill, have you tried BasicISP? Most of North Dakota can get it, sometimes from another community whose phone is local to them. For instance, people in nearby Tower City get it from an access number in Nome, ND, which is local to them but not to Valley City. (Incidentally, people in Tower City say they love it!)
Even a small part of Valley City can get DSL from BasicISP for $20 a month, much less than the $50 CenturyLink charges unless people sign up for a full year, which brings it down to $30. Maybe that option should be listed for Valley City on this website!
Perhaps you should check this out in Dickinson, just in case…
CheapInternet.com Administrator says
Thanks for your input, Shirley. We love it when our readers jump in to help each other.
Shirley says
Yes, hundreds of people are! Right now I am sitting outside the public library with my tablet to use their wi-fi, just as Jill is sitting outside her neighbor’s. Please excuse any typos added by the tablet!
It hasn’t always been this way in Valley City. I had dial–up from the year 2000 until I lost it at the end of May, and my cousin had it until the end of July! Most recently it cost about $21 from a local company, ICTC, but for a while we had PeoplePC for $8 a month, almost 5 times as fast. That is, we had it until CenturyLink took away the local access number to kill the competition. After that, we had ICTC, which was still very acceptable.
We lost our Internet, probably because a cable company laid hundreds of miles of wire to give us “high-speed” – which many could not afford and many others passed on because they didn’t want the installation headaches. They took away everything else to try to force us to use that wire! So our community traded “simple Internet for the common people” for “premium Internet for the elite.”
Many of us would be very, very happy with dial–up.
CheapInternet.com Administrator says
People living in rural areas or small towns (and we would imagine that even the biggest city in North Dakota qualifies as a small town) really do find themselves at a huge disadvantage when it comes to high-speed internet access.
Shirley says
Many people in and near Valley City, North Dakota not only have no Internet available for less than $50 a month but have no Internet available at any price. We would be thrilled if we could get a national dial–up ISP like PeoplePC or BasicISP, but CenturyLink won’t provide a local access number, even though it only offers Internet (DSL) in town. The only option for people in thr country is wireless with data limits so low that it is virtually unusable. Most of North Dakota has Internet available from BasicISP for $8.95 a month.
In short: forget the “high-speed” part. Give us dial–up with no installation headaches, no tiny data limits, that we can relax with and enjoy. That is all we need, but we need it badly!
CheapInternet.com Administrator says
Yours is a common complaint from people living in rural areas and it doesn’t get much more rural than North Dakota, Shirley. You are definitely stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Jill paul says
I’m in Dickinson Nd single mom 5 kids food stamp house hold free lunch 2 kids in college 3 at home we need wifi for phones tv and looking for jobs. We have none. I sit in car and use neighbors to get emails for jobs please help
CheapInternet.com Administrator says
We are not familiar with Dickinson, Jill. Can you get either AT&T or Sprint service in your area? If so, check out these programs:
AT&T:
https://www.cheapinternet.com/att-access-offers-5-dollar-high-speed-internet-to-low-income-families
Sprint:
https://www.cheapinternet.com/low-income-internet/pcs-for-people