Mon, 05/10/2021 - 9:47am tim
Vermont Business Magazine Vermonters may apply for the Emergency Broadband Benefit beginning Wednesday, May 12. The Emergency Broadband Benefit is a temporary FCC program to help eligible families and households struggling to afford broadband internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Emergency Broadband Benefit provides:
Up to $50/month discount for broadband service;
Up to $75/month discount for households on qualifying Tribal lands; and
A one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet purchased through a participating provider if the household contributes more than $10 but less than $50 toward the purchase price.
The FCC voted February 25, 2021, to formally adopt a Report and Order that establishes the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, a $3.2 billion federal initiative to provide qualifying households discounts on their internet service bills and an opportunity to receive a discount on a computer or table
May 7, 2021
The federal Emergency Broadband Benefit Program is designed to help households struggling to afford internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal of helping more people connect to jobs, critical healthcare services, virtual classrooms, and more. Please help communicate this opportunity to people and families who would benefit from this assistance. The program provides:
Discounts of up to $50 per month towards broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands
One-time discounts of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price
But a new program from the Federal Communications Commission is poised to change that.
Beginning Wednesday, eligible households will be able to enroll in the FCC s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, which will provide a monthly discount on broadband internet service from an approved provider.
Consumers could receive discounts of up to $50 a month. A one-time discount of up to $100 on a computer or tablet will also be offered to eligible households, according to a news release from Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper.
Under the law, the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program is open to households that meet the following eligibility requirements:
Crocs is doing it again. The company is giving away free shoes to health care workers to celebrate National Nurses Week.
For 5 days, starting on May 10, Crocs will once again give away 10,000 pairs of Crocs at Work shoes every day to healthcare heroes who continue to provide comfort and care amid COVID-19.
In honor of National Nurses Week and to all the healthcare workers, Crocs wants to thank you for all the hard work and celebrate those who have been on the frontlines throughout it all.
Beginning on May 10, Crocs will take requests each day at 12PM EST until the shoes run out.
The answer may be a little bit of both.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been quick to say the broadband access gap has been closed by his Broadband for All program, though many including state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay disagree with Cuomo’s assessment. The governor is looking to boost broadband access by requiring private companies to provide a $15 rate so that low-income residents can have access to broadband internet.
There are pockets of Chautauqua County lagging behind in internet access according to a fall 2020 survey compiled by the state Education Department. The New York Civil Liberties Union recently filed a Freedom of Information Law request for the survey, which showed that more than 165,000 students in New York state (6%) lacked internet access. In Chautauqua County, 1,058 of the county’s 18,353 students (5.76%) had no access to internet. The same percentage of students had no access to a device to access the internet.