Low cost high-speed internet for qualified families under a federal program

20 internet service companies have agreed to provide lower-income families high-speed plans for $30 a month or less.

• Anne Danahy/WPSU
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  Anne Danahy is a reporter at WPSU. She was a reporter for nearly 12 years at the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pennsylvania, where she earned a number of awards for her coverage of issues including the impact of natural gas development on communities.
  
  She earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and a master's degree in media studies from Penn State.
  
  Before joining WPSU, she worked as a writer and editor at Strategic Communications at Penn State and with the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute before that.
  
  She hosts a Q&A program for Centre County's government and education access station and teaches a news writing and reporting class at Penn State.

 Susan Walsh / AP Photo

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel talks about the infrastructure law's investments in affordable, accessible high-speed internet from the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, Monday, Feb. 14, 2022.

Under a partnership with the federal government, 20 internet service companies have agreed to provide lower-income families high-speed plans for $30 a month or less, which, when coupled with a government subsidy, means many families can get high-speed access at no cost.

Households can qualify for the Affordable Connectivity Program in a number of ways, including having an income that’s within 200% of the federal poverty level; participating in the national school lunch program; or receiving Medicaid or Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefits.

The 20 companies participating include AT&T, Verizon (Fios) and Comcast. They’ll each offer at least one high-speed plan for $30 a month or less.

“A lot of families during the pandemic, whether it was school online or working remotely online or for some families trying to do job-hunting online, really just kind of amplified the need for broadband access at home,” said Jo Posti, director of public relations for Comcast’s Keystone region.

Posti said Comcast already had a broadband program for families that qualify. With the rollout of the Affordable Connectivity Program, they’ve repackaged it. So a household that’s eligible can get high-speed internet — 100 megabits per second of download speed, a cable modem and unlimited data for $29.95 a month. The government, in turn, provides a $30 subsidy to people who qualify.

According to the White House, about 48 million households — nearly 40% of American households — qualify for the program.

For more information on the program and to apply online, go to the Affordable Connectivity Program.