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Carl Jarvis
On 2/25/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Trump's FCC Is Already Canceling Internet Services for Low-Income Customers
Trump's FCC Is Already Canceling Internet Services for Low-Income Customers
Friday, February 24, 2017
By Mike Ludwig , Truthout | Report
(Photo: Santiago Cabezas; Edited: LW / TO)
(Photo: Santiago Cabezas ; Edited: LW / TO)
Ajit Pai, President Trump's Republican pick to head the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), is already sparring with media reformers
just weeks into
his term. On Thursday, a coalition of 40 racial justice, labor and digital
rights groups demanded that the commission reverse a recent order that they
say has canceled subsidized internet service for 17,500 low-income
customers.
On February 3, the FCC began to roll back
several Obama-era reform efforts, including orders allowing nine telecom
companies to provide Lifeline services to people who have trouble affording
internet
service. The decision could make it difficult if not impossible for tens of
thousands of low-income families and students to get online, according to
the
digital advocacy group Free Press.
Under Pai, the FCC has also begun to undo agency efforts to keep media
consolidation in check, examine net neutrality issues in mobile services
and
enhance
transparency in political advertising.
Lifeline has provided discount phone service for low-income customers since
1985. Last March, the FCC issued an order modernizing the program to
include
broadband internet access in response to growing concern that low-income
people and communities of color are being left behind as access to
high-speed
internet expands nationwide.
The reform groups argue that the FCC should implement the order swiftly and
push more resources into the program instead of kicking companies off the
list
of eligible providers.
"Lifeline . is the only federal program poised to bring broadband to poor
families across the US so that they can connect to jobs, complete their
homework,
and communicate with healthcare providers and emergency services," the
groups wrote
in a letter to the FCC.
Pai defended the FCC's decision in a blog post
earlier this month, pointing out that there are hundreds of other
companies
that provide Lifeline services, and the FCC is only "reconsidering" the
nine
companies' eligibility for the program in order to root out "waste, fraud
and abuse." He added that the National Tribal Telecommunications
Association
had requested that some of the companies be reconsidered.
However, critics say the move undermines a key program for keeping the poor
connected and raises doubts about Pai's claims that he is as dedicated to
"bridging
the digital divide"
as he claims to be .
What is the digital divide? A recent Free Press report
based on Census data found that nearly 90 percent of households with
incomes above $100,000 have internet access, compared to only 49 percent of
households
with incomes below $20,000. Internet adoption rates among Blacks and
Latinos
are also lower than among whites.
"Affordable access to broadband is critical for people to access modern
opportunities," said Olivia Wein, an attorney with the National Consumer
Law
Center,
in a statement. "We urge the Commission to swiftly implement the March 2016
modernization order so that children can complete their homework at the
kitchen
table instead of at a fast-food counter."
Pai has his own proposals for addressing the digital divide, including
using
tax incentives to encourage companies to expand high-speed internet in
needy
areas and directing billions of dollars toward "infrastructure
development."
These top-down proposals would be a boon for telecom companies, unlike a
program
like Lifeline, which directly benefits consumers who can't afford access
otherwise.
Pai, who leads a 2-1 Republican majority on a commission awaiting the
appointment of two new members, claims he supports modernizing Lifeline to
expand
internet access, but says the FCC needs to make sure that telecom providers
and customers are not defrauding the universal fund that pays for it. His
critics
say the original modernization order the commission has already made
"extensive progress" in curbing fraud and abuse.
Pai and his fellow Republican commissioner, Michael O'Rielly, also angered
advocates on Thursday by rolling back transparency requirements for smaller
internet service providers that were part of the 2015 net neutrality rules
established under former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler, who resigned earlier this
year.
Pai was a vocal opponent of the 2015 net neutrality package approved under
Wheeler. The package was a hard-fought win for activists: It allows the
government
to regulate broadband more like a public utility that everyone needs.
The transparency rules required internet service providers to disclose
information about their products, prices and network management services to
regulators,
but providers with up to 250,000 customers are now exempt.
O'Rielly and Pai argue the requirements created unnecessary costs for small
businesses, but advocates worry it's just the beginning of a broader
assault
on net neutrality.
"Here's how cost-benefit analysis works in the Trump administration and at
the Pai FCC: If any favored lobby like the cable industry claims that rules
cost them money, the agency will zap those rules -- without any regard for
their benefits," said Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood.
Pai has long shown interest in deregulation initiatives supported by the
industry, and he is expected to face fierce opposition from consumer groups
as
FCC chair.
What you just read was made possible by support from readers like you. If
you want to read more stories like this, make a tax-deductible donation to
Truthout!
Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission .
Mike Ludwig
Mike Ludwig is an investigative reporter at Truthout and a contributor to
the Truthout anthology,
Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect?
Follow him on Twitter:
@ludwig_mike .
Related Stories
The FCC Can't Save Community Broadband -- but We Can
By Corynne McSherry, Electronic Frontier Foundation | Op-Ed
Digital Redlining: How Internet Service Providers Promote Poverty
By Julianne Tveten, Truthout | News Analysis
Governments Shut Down the Internet More Than 50 Times in 2016
By Lyndal Rowlands, Inter Press Service | Report
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
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Trump's FCC Is Already Canceling Internet Services for Low-Income Customers
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Trump's FCC Is Already Canceling Internet Services for Low-Income Customers
Friday, February 24, 2017
By Mike Ludwig , Truthout | Report
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(Photo: Santiago Cabezas; Edited: LW / TO)
(Photo: Santiago Cabezas ; Edited: LW / TO)
Ajit Pai, President Trump's Republican pick to head the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), is already sparring with media reformers
just weeks into
his term. On Thursday, a coalition of 40 racial justice, labor and digital
rights groups demanded that the commission reverse a recent order that they
say has canceled subsidized internet service for 17,500 low-income
customers.
On February 3, the FCC began to roll back
several Obama-era reform efforts, including orders allowing nine telecom
companies to provide Lifeline services to people who have trouble affording
internet
service. The decision could make it difficult if not impossible for tens of
thousands of low-income families and students to get online, according to
the
digital advocacy group Free Press.
Under Pai, the FCC has also begun to undo agency efforts to keep media
consolidation in check, examine net neutrality issues in mobile services
and
enhance
transparency in political advertising.
Lifeline has provided discount phone service for low-income customers since
1985. Last March, the FCC issued an order modernizing the program to
include
broadband internet access in response to growing concern that low-income
people and communities of color are being left behind as access to
high-speed
internet expands nationwide.
The reform groups argue that the FCC should implement the order swiftly and
push more resources into the program instead of kicking companies off the
list
of eligible providers.
"Lifeline . is the only federal program poised to bring broadband to poor
families across the US so that they can connect to jobs, complete their
homework,
and communicate with healthcare providers and emergency services," the
groups wrote
in a letter to the FCC.
Pai defended the FCC's decision in a blog post
earlier this month, pointing out that there are hundreds of other
companies
that provide Lifeline services, and the FCC is only "reconsidering" the
nine
companies' eligibility for the program in order to root out "waste, fraud
and abuse." He added that the National Tribal Telecommunications
Association
had requested that some of the companies be reconsidered.
However, critics say the move undermines a key program for keeping the poor
connected and raises doubts about Pai's claims that he is as dedicated to
"bridging
the digital divide"
as he claims to be .
What is the digital divide? A recent Free Press report
based on Census data found that nearly 90 percent of households with
incomes above $100,000 have internet access, compared to only 49 percent of
households
with incomes below $20,000. Internet adoption rates among Blacks and
Latinos
are also lower than among whites.
"Affordable access to broadband is critical for people to access modern
opportunities," said Olivia Wein, an attorney with the National Consumer
Law
Center,
in a statement. "We urge the Commission to swiftly implement the March 2016
modernization order so that children can complete their homework at the
kitchen
table instead of at a fast-food counter."
Pai has his own proposals for addressing the digital divide, including
using
tax incentives to encourage companies to expand high-speed internet in
needy
areas and directing billions of dollars toward "infrastructure
development."
These top-down proposals would be a boon for telecom companies, unlike a
program
like Lifeline, which directly benefits consumers who can't afford access
otherwise.
Pai, who leads a 2-1 Republican majority on a commission awaiting the
appointment of two new members, claims he supports modernizing Lifeline to
expand
internet access, but says the FCC needs to make sure that telecom providers
and customers are not defrauding the universal fund that pays for it. His
critics
say the original modernization order the commission has already made
"extensive progress" in curbing fraud and abuse.
Pai and his fellow Republican commissioner, Michael O'Rielly, also angered
advocates on Thursday by rolling back transparency requirements for smaller
internet service providers that were part of the 2015 net neutrality rules
established under former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler, who resigned earlier this
year.
Pai was a vocal opponent of the 2015 net neutrality package approved under
Wheeler. The package was a hard-fought win for activists: It allows the
government
to regulate broadband more like a public utility that everyone needs.
The transparency rules required internet service providers to disclose
information about their products, prices and network management services to
regulators,
but providers with up to 250,000 customers are now exempt.
O'Rielly and Pai argue the requirements created unnecessary costs for small
businesses, but advocates worry it's just the beginning of a broader
assault
on net neutrality.
"Here's how cost-benefit analysis works in the Trump administration and at
the Pai FCC: If any favored lobby like the cable industry claims that rules
cost them money, the agency will zap those rules -- without any regard for
their benefits," said Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood.
Pai has long shown interest in deregulation initiatives supported by the
industry, and he is expected to face fierce opposition from consumer groups
as
FCC chair.
What you just read was made possible by support from readers like you. If
you want to read more stories like this, make a tax-deductible donation to
Truthout!
Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission .
Mike Ludwig
Mike Ludwig is an investigative reporter at Truthout and a contributor to
the Truthout anthology,
Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect?
Follow him on Twitter:
@ludwig_mike .
Related Stories
The FCC Can't Save Community Broadband -- but We Can
By Corynne McSherry, Electronic Frontier Foundation | Op-Ed
Digital Redlining: How Internet Service Providers Promote Poverty
By Julianne Tveten, Truthout | News Analysis
Governments Shut Down the Internet More Than 50 Times in 2016
By Lyndal Rowlands, Inter Press Service | Report
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Show Comments
