Billions of dollars aimed at helping low-income households afford internet access are going unclaimed as the Federal Communications Commission faces hurdles to enrolling participants in a subsidy program.
Congress allocated $3.2 billion to the FCC for the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, designed to help low-income households pay for broadband services and devices amid the coronavirus pandemic, in an omnibus spending package last December. Roughly $600 million has been disbursed, according to Universal Service Administrative Co. data.
There is bipartisan support for subsidizing internet access to bridge the digital divide, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Congress now is eyeing another $14.2 ...