[naranana]

The author of this story flatly ignores the fact that the Lifeline program -- by law -- was never meant to subsidize broadband. It was VERY explicitly intended to subsidize only basic telephone service. Read the law.

If Congress wants there to be a broadband subsidy for the poor, it needs to specifically authorize one. The current law simply does not provide for it, and the FCC needs to obey the law.

[trafficlight]

There was a pilot project in 2015 for broadband subsidization. From what I remember, it went well and they were going to expand the program to cover it, but I haven't heard anything about it since.

As the owner of a small ISP, I'd like to figure out a way to provide to service to everyone regardless of their income. Internet access is critical at this point for even the most basic societal functions.

[ams6110]

> Internet access is critical at this point for even the most basic societal functions

No, it isn't. I'm at a tipping point of canceling my Comcast cable/internet because I don't think it's worth $80/month. 90% of what I do online at home is for entertainment. And I would guess that is the same for most households that don't have a tech worker. (I am a tech worker, but I've finally trained myself to not take work home).

Really the only reason I keep it is because I don't want to deal with griping from the kids.

[kalleboo]

Have you tried applying for jobs lately? Ok, so you can use the internet at a library. But you can't afford a car, so now you need to take the bus across town, with your the kids in tow...

[naranana]

The point is that you don't need a landline/broadband for any of those. 3G and a smartphone is more than enough.

[sethammons]

I would not want to apply to anything via a smart phone. While you may get away with 3g and a hotspot for getting through critical online activities like job applications, my experience has been that mobile carriers will charge for the ability to hotspot if they can. Not a solid option for the poor. A better option would be something like Juno/NetZero with N hours free per month, but with speeds that can actually handle today's bloated websites.

[naranana]

Why do you need a hotspot? You don't need a computer at all. Chances are, if you need subsidised internet, you can't afford a computer, anyway.

[Broken_Hippo]

Until you realize that the pre-paid phone service doesn't exactly work well for that and is rather expensive, and your refurbished phone doesn't work too well with modern websites.

I should also mention that not everywhere has access to a public library that is free to use. I lived next to one of those districts - the next township (and town) over didn't have one. Since they didn't pay taxes into the library, they had to pay a yearly fee. Only pre-school children were exempt.

[trafficlight]

How about simple things like finding a phone number for a business? Or a map and directions to an address?

Phone books used to be the primary source of that information, but they are getting thinner and thinner as the years go on. Not to mention it's only updated once a year.

[Dylan16807]

Internet is replacing telephone for necessary basic communication.

Obviously it was explicitly tailored to telephones when it was passed over 30 years ago. That doesn't mean that reworking the program under the existing law is automatically a bad idea.

[jakeogh]

I'm probably reading more than I should into "under existing law", if you mean "change the meaning/interpretation of the words in the existing law" then ya, that's a bad idea.

[dforrestwilson1]

This is correct. There are rural programs like CAF to subsidize the construction of internet connections in rural communities. I'm not sure if anything exists (or needs to) for the urban poor.

[yewhdriof]

It needs to exist; you're indifferent to it because you don't benefit.

[dforrestwilson1]

No I'm indifferent because networks to urban poor communities already exist. It's much cheaper for a provider to build out inside of a city than out to a town in the middle of nowhere.

Rather than assuming motives you should assess the actual cost/benefit.

[Steko]

Landline Modernization Order[1]:

Legal Authority

38. The principles listed in section 254 of the Act make clear that deployment of, and access to, telecommunications and information services are important components of a robust and successful federal universal service program, including the directive to address low-income needs.86 In section 254[2], Congress expressly recognized the importance of ensuring that low-income consumers “have access to telecommunications and information services, including . . . advanced telecommunications and information services” and that universal service is an “evolving level of telecommunications service.”87

...

41. Our approach is also supported by section 254(c)(1)(A). Under that provision, the Commission considers whether a given supported service is “essential to education, public health, or public safety.”97 We explain above the importance of BIAS to education and healthcare, among other things, along with the need for discounts in order to enable low-income consumers to realize those benefits.98 We therefore conclude that BIAS is essential for education and public health for low-income Americans.

42. Section 254(c)(1)(B) directs the Commission to consider whether the service at issue has “through the operation of market choices by customers, been subscribed to by a substantial majority of residential customers.”99

footnote 92. ... Even before that, however, during the time the Commission had classified BIAS as generally an information service, it recognized the possibility of broadband Internet access transmission being offered on a common carrier basis as a telecommunications service. See, e.g., Appropriate Regulatory Treatment For Broadband Access to the Internet Over Wireless Networks, Declaratory Ruling, 22 FCC Rcd 5901, 5913-14, para. 33 (2007);[3]

[1] https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-16-38A1.pd...

[2] 47 U.S. Code § 254 - Universal service https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/254

[3] https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-30A1.pd...

[Sacho]

Am I reading this incorrectly? link n2 has:

> (j) Lifeline assistance Nothing in this section shall affect the collection, distribution, or administration of the Lifeline Assistance Program provided for by the Commission under regulations set forth in section 69.117 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, and other related sections of such title.

What makes it relevant to the discussion, then?

With Chevron deference (soon?) gone, perhaps courts will actually adjudicate whether this interpretation is within the framework of the law.

[yewhdriof]

A law to subsidize broadband access to the poor...

Good idea; when's it coming?

[devindotcom]

In the FCC doc being considered:

In the 2016 Lifeline Modernization Order, the Commission established a framework for the Bureau to designate providers as LBPs, eligible to receive Lifeline reimbursement for qualifying broadband Internet access service (BIAS) provided to eligible low-income consumers.