Showing posts with label Keep Americans Connected Pledge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Keep Americans Connected Pledge. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

No Internet access means no school. Here’s how the FCC can help.; The Washington Post, April 21, 2020

Arne Duncan, The Washington Post; No Internet access means no school. Here’s how the FCC can help.

"A simple update to the Keep Americans Connected Pledge would cue the nation’s Internet providers to follow Comcast’s lead and waive prior debts. (While they’re at it, they should also waive restrictions excluding families who subscribed to service within the past 90 days.) More than 12,000 people have signed a petition demanding just this from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

Meanwhile, the FCC should distribute the billions of dollars earmarked under its own power for helping schools and libraries get online. With many schools and libraries closed for the rest of the school year, Rosenworcel made the common-sense suggestion that libraries and schools should be able to use those funds to buy WiFi hotspots for students and families and get them online.

More than a month into this crisis, we have seen no movement from the administration on these relatively simple changes."