The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 Thursday to begin the process of tweaking its Lifeline Assistance program to include broadband, a reform Sen. Chris Murphy pushed for with legislation this month.
Murphy’s Broadband Adoption Act would modernize Lifeline — created in 1985 to subsidize landlines for low-income families — to offer broadband service. Supporters say this “reboot” of the program would help those below the poverty line bridge the digital divide, providing access to online education, health and emergency information, job postings and other services.
Virtually all of Bridgeport’s student body would qualify for discounted broadband service.
At the FCC’s open commission meeting, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said subsidizing broadband is an important step for closing the “homework gap” — the discrepancy between students who can use the Internet to complete assignments and those who cannot.
“The homework gap is the cruelest part of the digital divide, but it is within our power to bridge it,” she said. “The future of our economy, country and our success is built on a digitally diverse workforce.”
Low-income students who cannot afford broadband access at home often struggle to complete their schoolwork, and Connecticut Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz has said she’s heard of Bridgeport high-schoolers camping out in school parking lots to access Wi-Fi. At the meeting, Rosenworcel noted stories of students spending hours inside local fast food restaurants to do the same.
Also supporting the proposal were Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, who called broadband the “greatest technology equalizer of our time.” The proposal would also take measures to reduce waste, fraud and abuse of the Lifeline program.
Republican Commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O’Reilly dissented, arguing that structural expansion must be accompanied by fiscal reform. They noted that Lifeline is one of the only of four universal service fund programs that has not been placed on a budget.
“I am open to having a conversation about including broadband in the Lifeline program,” Pai said. “But any such change must go hand in hand with the reforms that are necessary to producing a fiscally responsible program.”