$50-per-month emergency broadband subsidies approved in pandemic stimulus

Enlarge / A mother and daughter using Internet-connected devices at home. (credit: Getty Images | Tang Ming Tung)

Americans who have low incomes or who lost their jobs during the pandemic will be eligible for $50-per-month broadband subsidies under the stimulus package passed by Congress last night. Congress is providing $3.2 billion from the US Treasury for a new Emergency Broadband Connectivity Fund that will be administered by the Federal Communications Commission.

Subsidies won't be distributed immediately, as it could take a couple of months or more for the FCC to start the program. The $50 monthly payments won't go directly to broadband users but will be paid to ISPs that provide free or reduced-cost broadband under the program. ISPs will be responsible for verifying each household's eligibility and seeking reimbursement from the FCC.

The bill text defines the "emergency broadband benefit" as "a monthly discount for an eligible household applied to the actual amount charged to such household, which shall be no more than the standard rate for an Internet service offering and associated equipment, in an amount equal to such amount charged, but not more than $50." The monthly per-household subsidy is $75 on Tribal lands.

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