CenturyLink on Monday introduced a discounted Internet service for low-income families in 37 states where the company has local operations.
Eligible homes can obtain high-speed Internet speed starting at $9.95 a month, excluding applicable taxes and fees. Monroe, La.-based CenturyLink said the “Internet Basics" program includes speeds of up to 1.5 Mbps downstream and higher bandwidth services at a comparable discount where they are available.
CenturyLink also is selling program participants an Internet-ready netbook computer for $150, plus taxes, shipping and handling, as well as arranging basic computer education and technology training at no additional cost to Internet Basics customers.
“While the Internet has become part of daily life for most Americans, many still aren’t connected because the cost is beyond their reach," CenturyLink CEO and President Glen F. Post, III said in a statement.
The program has been in the works for several months ever since CenturyLink announced a voluntary commitment with the Federal Communications Commission, helping the company obtain regulatory approval to acquire Denver-based Qwest Communications. The merger closed on April 1.
CenturyLink is not the only communications giant aiming to close the broadband gap that exists between the haves and have-nots. Lat month, Comcast introduced its “Internet Essentials" program for low-income families in order to close the “digital divide" by offering inexpensive Internet service, affordable computers and digital literacy training. Comcast was required to make affordable broadband services available to low-income Americans as part of its merger early this year with NBC Universal, Inc.
CenturyLink said participation in its program is based on criteria for the Lifeline Affordable Telephone Service, the federal program that offers discounts on basic monthly phone service to eligible consumers.
Citing a Federal Communications Commission study on broadband adoption, CenturyLink noted that 60 percent of homes with annual income of less than $20,000 don’t subscribe to high-speed Internet service. And among Americans who lack broadband at home, more than one-third (36 percent) cited the cost of the service and equipment as the reasons they have no access. At an event last month announcing Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski called on more broadband providers to take similar action.
High-speed Internet access is not ubiquitous in American homes, at least not yet. In its National Broadband Plan, the FCC has found that 35 percent of Americans don't use broadband at home. The agency is worried that minorities and low-income Americans could be left behind even if the overall penetration rate improves.
"Even if broadband reaches saturation in coming years, the aggregate adoption number may mask troubling differences along socioeconomic and racial and ethnic lines," the FCC stated. "If broadband adoption follows the trajectory of telephone adoption, one in four African Americans and one in three Hispanics could still be without broadband service at home even when an overwhelming majority of Americans overall have it."
