At the top of the sidebar to the right, there’s a link to an online petition being circulated by our friends at Free Press. Please take a minute, right now, to add your name.
The Trump FCC led by Chairman Ajit Pai is now accepting comments on a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” (NPRM) that they call Bridging the Digital Divide for Low-Income Consumers. Of course the proposed new rules, if adopted, would accomplish the exact opposite of that title’s promise. They would reverse most of the “Lifeline broadband” reforms adopted by the old FCC leadership in 2016, reduce the Lifeline program’s funding, impose new costs and eligibility limits on low income households seeking to use the program, and disrupt existing Lifeline services (including broadband access) for at least two-thirds of current customers by banning their “non-facilities bases” providers from the program.
The text accompanying the Free Press’ petition explains all this in greater detail, so read it there. You can also learn more from this post at the National Digital Inclusion blog. We won’t repeat it all here.
Disconnecting 325,000 Ohio households
But Ohioans should be aware of this: More than 300,000 households in Ohio could lose their current Lifeline connections if Pai’s plan goes forward. Read more
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