ISPs Under Fire for Sabotaging Biden FCC as White House Touts Broadband Program
Media justice groups on Monday warned that the Biden administration’s new program offering discounted internet service to people with low incomes isn’t “nearly enough” to help households facing barriers to broadband access and denounced the White House for celebrating the program with the same companies currently blocking the confirmation of consumer advocate Gigi Sohn to the Federal Communications Commission.
The White House announced Monday that it has brokered a deal with 20 internet providers which will offer discounted services to people whose incomes are at or below 200% of the federal poverty line or who participate in government-run housing, food assistance, or other aid programs.
An estimated 48 million people across the U.S. will qualify for reduced rates under the program according to the Biden administration, which arranged the lower costs with companies including Altice USA, AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, and Spectrum.
The commitment from internet companies is expected to build on the $14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which was passed as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021. That program provides $30 monthly stipends for low income households and $75 stipends for people in tribal areas. Before the White House’s announcement on Monday, 11.5 million families were participating in the ACP.
According to the White House, about 40% of U.S. households will now qualify for the ACP under the agreement with the internet companies, which will apply to high-speed plans of at least 100 megabits per second.
However, the companies involved in the deal, said the grassroots group MediaJustice, which fights for racial, economic, and gender justice within digital spaces, are some of the same internet providers that have lobbied the Democratic Party to stall Sohn’s confirmation.
“While Sohn’s confirmation has stalled for over six months, preventing the full functioning of the FCC, these internet service providers watched their profits rise as 21 million Americans go without home broadband,” he added. “These companies don’t need a White House ceremony, they need the oversight and regulation that only a complete FCC can provide.”
Sohn, a fierce defender of net neutrality, was nominated to the FCC earlier this year. Her confirmation would end the 2-2 deadlock of the panel, which has left the commissioners unable to reinstate net neutrality protections, ensure that the funds appropriated for the ACP are distributed equitably, create rules to protect communications networks from the climate crisis and other threats, and halt monopolization within the sector.
Biden’s efforts to ensure Sohn is confirmed “have not been nearly enough,” said Renderos, urging the president to work with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) “to get the votes necessary to confirm Sohn now and get the FCC fully running.”
Continued inaction in Congress regarding Sohn’s confirmation, said former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, risks rendering Biden’s actions directed at the telecom sector meaningless.
“Big money opposition is conducting a sleazy campaign to stall Ms. Sohn’s confirmation, and it’s time to put an end to it,” added Copps.
Originally published at Commondreams.org, written by Julia Conley.