More low-income Americans to get high-speed internet thanks to FCC

Lifeline measure subsidises broadband bills for poor households, whose lack of access shuts children out of schools and keeps adults away from vital data

High-speed internet access could now be more accessible to low-income Americans after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed a measure on Thursday to subsidise their internet bills.

Fewer than half of American households making less than $25,000 a year have internet access. The FCC voted 3-2 to expand a Reagan-era measure called Lifeline to include broadband. The subsidy program currently serves 1.2 million Americans, providing $9.25 total per household to citizens who qualify.