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Making good on its controversial overhaul of its Lifeline project, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (F.C.C.) announced on Tuesday a plan to expand a telecom subsidy of $9.25 a month for low-income households to include broadband.. This move is part of a much larger effort to close the digital divide in the U.S. Given that the U.S. is viewed as one of the central technological hubs of innovation and progress in the world, the stark gaps in internet access are embarrassing, to say the least.
The 2015 Broadband Progress Report, voted on and adopted by the F.C.C. in January, found that 55 million Americans — 17% of the population — lack access to advanced broadband, and that over half of all rural Americans lack access to 25 Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads service. Telcos and web service providers decried the findings, pointing to the fact that the F.C.C. raised the definition of standard broadband from 4 Mbps to 25 Mbps last January, creating a shake-up in the number of Americans considered to have access to sub-standard broadband…
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