When AT&T fought for their telecom merger with Direct TV, they made a deal to get FCC approval.
As a condition of the FCC's approval, AT&T agreed to expand its fiber Internet connection to 12.5 million customers within four years.
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AT&T will also offer the expanded broadband "gigabit services" to schools and libraries that receive federal subsidy for telecom services, the FCC said.
Also a part of that deal? People with SNAP benefits (food stamps) would be eligible for low-income internet access.
These programs help close the so-called "digital divide" for families who would otherwise be forced to rely on school connections or cell phones. A lack of reliable internet access can have countless negative implications, including for students who need it to complete homework and adults who are searching for jobs.
In March, the FCC voted to expand its Lifeline program and add a $9.25 subsidy that could go toward broadband internet for low-income households. Another government initiative called ConnectALL wants to bring internet access to 20 million homes by 2020.
Well, guess who found a loophole?
As a condition for AT&T's merger with DirecTV, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires that it offer $5 or $10 internet service to people on the SNAP low-income assistance program. If internet speeds were between 3-5 Mbps, folks would pay $5 per month, or $10 per month for speeds between 5-10 Mbps. So, if speeds are lower than 3 Mbps, do folks then pay $5 per month or less?
Not according to AT&T. When the NDIA asked the company to apply the program to neighborhoods with speeds of 1.5 Mbps, it refused. "AT&T is not prepared to expand the low income offer to additional speed tiers beyond those established as a condition of the merger approval," the company replied in a statement. As a result, poor families that should qualify for the $5 program must pay $30 per month (and more after 12 months) for a service well below the definition of "broadband."
AT&T argues that the FCC’s “definition of broadband” does not cover speeds below three Mbps and therefore AT&T can’t bring itself to offer thousands of low-income areas reduced rates.
The affected areas aren't just rural regions that are typically connectivity dead zones, either; according to findings from Connect Your Community, about 21 percent of all Census blocks in the cities of Cleveland and Detroit, primarily inner-city neighborhoods with many low-income households, only have access to connection speeds of 1.5 Mbps or less.
When it was proposed that AT&T at least offer the three Mbs rate of $5 a month, AT&T’s collective eyes went dead.
The NDIA proposed to AT&T that it offer its slower speed services for $5 per month to households that qualify under the same standards proposed by the FCC, arguing that any access is better than no access. According to the organization, AT&T declined the proposal, stating "AT&T is not prepared to expand the low-income offer to additional speed tiers beyond those established as a condition of the merger approval.”
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"The vast majority of the locations where we offer internet service are able to subscribe to internet speed tiers at 3Mbps or higher," a spokesperson for AT&T told the Daily Dot. "Our low-cost internet service speed tiers for qualifying households participating in SNAP—10Mbps, 5Mbps or 3Mbps—were determined by the FCC as part of its Order approving the DTV merger.”
That’s cold as ice.
