Obama Secures $70 Million for Broadband Pilot To Help Low-Income Households

Besides a small Department of Agriculture grant to help Choctaw, “there is no other federal investment,” White House National Economic Council Director Jeff Zients told reporters during a news-media call Wednesday discussing the $70 million in commitments. “There is no HUD funding involved,” affirmed Julián Castro, secretary of Housing and Urban Development. “This is an effort with the private sector, non-profits and public local leaders who are partners in this effort.” Obama was expected to address the initiative during a speech late Wednesday in Durant, Oklahoma, where the Choctaw Nation is based.

“ConnectHome is an open invitation at this point,” Zients added of the pilot, saying more ISPs and stakeholders can “join the effort.” The federal government could “expand” ConnectHome eventually, Castro noted of its pilot status. Administration officials are working out how they’ll measure the program, they said. Castro said they would measure the ConnectHome success by how many families acquire broadband access, “the uptick,” and also likely through “longitudinal analysis” of younger people who connect and what the educational benefits are. “My hope is it will demonstrate great results,” creating “opportunity” for expansion, Castro said. “Doing it as a demonstration project allows us to get it right.” An initiative document showcasing frequently asked questions referred to “the goal of extending the demonstration on a nationwide basis” and mentioned that “John Horrigan of the Pew Research Center will offer expertise on project evaluation and will advise on metrics, methodologies, and strategies for measuring the success of ConnectHome.”

ConnectHome communities include Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C., selected competitively from the 40 communities that responded with expressions of interest to HUD's April 3 notice, published in the Federal Register. “Great news!” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., tweeted about Boston’s selection. Sens. Cory Booker and Bob Menendez, New Jersey Democrats, issued statements praising inclusion of communities in their state and the initiative as a whole. The administration started by looking at “which communities made the most sense” and then determining which ISPs to work with following that determination, Castro said. In markets served by Google Fiber, including Atlanta; Durham, North Carolina; the Kansas City area and Nashville, “Google Fiber will offer $0 monthly home Internet service to residents in select public housing authority properties and will partner with community organizations on computer labs and digital literacy programming to bridge the digital divide, especially for families with K-12 students,” the administration’s fact sheet said. Erica Swanson, Google Fiber’s head of community impact, wrote in a blog post that the company based its broadband adoption work on its efforts with the Austin Housing Authority. HUD is working with US Ignite and EveryoneOn. HUD hosts a ConnectHome website.

Cox will supply broadband for $9.95 a month for families with children in the K-12 category in public housing throughout Macon, Georgia; Meriden, Connecticut; and Louisiana’s Baton Rouge and New Orleans. CenturyLink will provide its broadband to HUD households in Seattle and its surrounding areas for $9.95 a month for the first year and $14.95 a month for the four subsequent ones. Sprint is involved, helping provide wireless broadband to eligible public housing residents. Others have stepped up to make donations or assist in the program. PBS “will produce and distribute new educational, children’s, and digital literacy content via participating local PBS stations tailored for ConnectHome participants,” the administration said. The American Library Association is collaborating on digital literacy training.

The administration simultaneously released a 10-page issue brief from the Council of Economic Advisers. “The digital divide is likely both a cause and a consequence of other demographic disparities, and sorting out the precise impact of closing the divide is more difficult than characterizing the current disparities, as we have done here,” it said. “Policies that aim to close the divide are pursued in recognition of the fact that the opportunities afforded by Internet access should be accessible to every American, much like other universally available utilities such as water and electricity.”

The initiative earned broad support. It “draws on the knowledge and expertise of cable leaders in extending adoption programs to HUD housing in key cities,” NCTA said in a blog post. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel lauded ConnectHome as a step in the right direction. “Approximately 7 in 10 teachers assign homework that requires Internet access,” Rosenworcel said in a statement. “Kids may be connected in the classroom, but if they are disconnected at home, getting basic schoolwork done is hard. This Homework Gap is the cruelest part of our new digital divide.”

“The CEA report shows several interrelated components to the digital divide,” said Public Knowledge Vice President Kristine DeBry. “In addition to the income divide, there are lower levels of adoption and lower Internet speeds in rural areas, and there is a relationship between higher levels of carrier competition and higher adoption in rural areas. Closing the digital divide will require addressing all these factors by increasing low-income support, increasing competition, providing opportunities for municipal broadband, and maintaining strong antitrust and FCC enforcement when internet service providers and carriers seek to merge.”

“ConnectHome is really not just making the Internet accessible, it’s really making it more meaningful for students and their parents,” HUD's Castro said, stressing the number of college applications that require online submittal and the number of job postings online. “The average HUD household is making about $13,000 a year.”

Zients emphasized that ConnectHome marks another notch in “a major, sustained effort” from Obama to provide access and tied it to Obama’s other efforts -- ConnectED, focused on connecting schools and libraries; the way Obama “worked to remove roadblocks to new competitors;” and his backing for strong net neutrality protections. The White House now showcases the initiative under a website section called “Connect America,” tying together ConnectED, ConnectHome and Obama's backing for public-private partnerships and his net neutrality stance.