Public, Private Sector Agree They Have More Work to do to Close Digital Divide

"Solving the adoption problem requires a multifaceted approach that includes providing access to low-cost equipment, training and demonstrating how Internet access can improve lives,” said Laura Breeden, NTIA program director for public computing and broadband adoption. NTIA works with various ISPs and community organizations to get the word out about their broadband adoption programs, she said. “Broadband is a necessity, not a luxury,” said acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn June 3 at a C2C event in Alexandria, Va. “It means pathways to better education, healthcare, job opportunities, news and information.” A commission spokesman declined further comment.

The most-recent campaign by C2C, with partners including the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other agencies, started in April, targeting households with under $35,000 annual income. That’s because 75 percent of Americans who lack Internet service are below that income threshold, said Leverenz. C2C also sells low-cost computers through its partners Good PC and Computer Dealers Inc., which refurbish old computers and sell them to qualifying people at reduced prices.

Encouraging those without broadband to buy the service, even at a reduced price, takes more than just selling the product, many stakeholders said. “We need to have some amount of digital literacy training in a long-term nature,” said John Horrigan, director of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies’ Media and Technology Institute. “The challenge is to get into the field and set up a system.” Other groups said they're seeking to do that, with varying degrees of success and engagement with ISP partners.

Critics want the programs to be free, they continue (CD June 11 p8) to say. We found one program with a free package to end-users. FreedomPop, which unlike the other adoption programs surveyed is a wireless, not a wireline service. Another program, One Economy, is a reseller of existing commercial services and through BTOP gives free connections to affordable-housing unit landlords. One Economy doesn’t have a direct discount offer to end-users. Adoption programs generally don’t make broadband available for everyone because the participating ISPs don’t want to target for those low-cost products seniors and people without children, which the companies want to buy their full-priced service, said Matt Wood, Free Press policy director. “We need to have more competition and comprehensive assistance programs.” Monthly user fees mean broadband for low-income households costs too much, said Sascha Meinrath, New America Foundation Open Policy Institute director. “Cost structures do not meet the needs of communities. There are always barriers, however small."

That still-expanding ISP efforts haven’t borne more fruit is not entirely the responsibility of those companies, one cable executive said. All potential customers aren’t seeing the value of the program, said Mediacom Vice President-Legal and Public Affairs Tom Larsen. Also, “if schools are not behind the program, it does not get any traction,” said Larsen, whose company sells low-cost broadband to low-income households as a C2C ISP. “Some people think that it’s a marketing scheme, but it’s not making any money for us.” Cable ISP broadband adoption programs haven’t been seen as a big money maker for companies (CD Feb 14/12 p10). A broadband access gap exists between African Americans and white Americans, said the Urban League in a May 2012 report about broadband adoption (http://bit.ly/GUAP4L). “Home broadband adoption still divides across poverty lines,” said Jason Llorenz, Rutgers University director-technology and innovation policy. “We need real resources and incentives to get people online."

The population eligible to get cheap broadband through ISPs working with C2C grew from fewer than 10 million to 60 million when in April the group partnered with FreedomPop, said Leverenz in a June webcast. “We have an unprecedented potential to close the digital divide through public will,” he told us. “Connectivity does not end when the school day ends.” Three main barriers exist when it comes to broadband connectivity, said Leverenz. “People think that it costs too much; they do not have the skills to get online; and people do not understand why they need to be online.” Through C2C’s programs, Leverenz hopes to overcome these barriers. C2C began the first phase of its program in May 2012 through Comcast, Cox Communications, Wilco Electronic Systems, Bright House Networks and Mediacom, said Leverenz.

Chanelle Hardy, National Urban League Policy Institute director, hopes that C2C will use the league’s networks more to reach communities. “We are still waiting to see what the program will be,” she said. “We are standing by, but we have not had much opportunity to deploy.” The National Council of La Raza is still talking with C2C, the FCC and others about how it will help ISPs get the word out about low-cost broadband, said a spokeswoman. “We are meeting with the FCC and we are still in the talking stages. It’s a wise investment for our country. These efforts are great and we want to see something bigger."

FreedomPop’s service, run through Sprint and Clearwire networks, doesn’t require any outside funding, said CEO Stephen Stokols. He founded FreedomPop in 2012 with Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom as an investor, and based it on a model similar to the VoIP provider, with anyone able to use 1 GB of capacity free each month, with options to pay for more data or virtual private network and online security services. “Half of our customers are solely free and the other half are paying, and we are making money,” said Stokols. “We don’t require any funding.” FreedomPop became available nationwide after it partnered with Sprint in April, he said: “We want to crack 1 million customers in our first year and 3 million in three years. We want to crack 50 million in five years, which is viable and realistic.” While Meinrath appreciates FreedomPop’s baseline connectivity, there are certain elements that people have to pay for, like an installation fee, he said: “We need to have maximum options for local communities where people can choose what meets their needs.”

Larger ISPs also are contributing to broadband adoption for low-income households. Households qualify if they have a child in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), no bad debt and no overdue bills with the ISP. Comcast’s Internet Essentials had connected 150,000 households by Dec. 21, plus 30,000 schools in 39 states to support the program’s efforts to close the digital divide, said a company spokesman. “The uptake on Comcast’s program was initially sporadic and uneven, which is why they expanded their program to include the NSLP program,” said Wood. “While efforts like this may benefit the people who manage to find out about them and qualify for the program, it’s not as though Comcast is doing this out of kindness.” Instead, it’s a money-making and image-buttressing program for the company, he said. NAF’s Meinrath agrees with Wood on Comcast’s programs. “They need to go above and beyond the mandate to be generous,” said Meinrath.

Cox, the first ISP to pilot a low-cost Internet program with C2C, estimates it can reach 1,000 schools where 75 percent of those enrolled or more on average are eligible for the NSLP, said a company spokeswoman. Cox began in April selling inexpensive broadband in all its markets, and includes free cable modems and installation and a low-priced computer, she said. Mediacom is expanding its programs to 22 states where it serves areas with low broadband adoption rates, to make the biggest impact, said Larsen.

One Economy connected 27,000 units of low-income housing to the Internet through BTOP grants over the past 3 years, said CEO David Saunier. “We are providing these units for free for one to two years, then landlords need to decide what to do next. We hope that they will pay for it and treat it as a cheap amenity.” C2C started as part of One Economy, and the two now are separate, with One Economy focusing more on developing broadband education programs, said Saunier. One Economy is working with 750 community-based organizations including housing providers and community development organizations to get people connected, he said.

Leverenz sees new opportunities for growth in the C2C model. “We have a national platform, but we need to work at a local platform, market to market,” he said. “We're interested in bulk adoption strategies in wired public housing, public schools and congregations, so we can go big and get as many people connected as possible.” During the recession, low-income Americans were still using the Internet at libraries, so there’s room for growth, said Hardy. “Many think it is in their best interest” to use the Internet, she said. “We need to work across sectors to make it affordable and provide training to maximize resources.”