Lifeline Will Expand, Now What?
Today, the FCC voted 3-2 to approve an expansion to the Lifeline program, which I wrote about earlier. This expansion means the government will pay a $9.25 subsidy for broadband access via Lifeline which already includes a telephone line. But what does this mean for education? What do we do next? One thing this means for education is we have taken a step toward digital equity. No, this one step won't solve the entire issue but it will be a helpful solution for many families.
The FCC and Education
The FCC and education have an interesting history together. Let's start with net neutrality. Back in February of 2015, the FCC voted on the controversial topic of net neutrality. Net neutrality means that no matter what service provider you use, the Internet looks the same - it is neutral. Abolishing net neutrality meant that Internet service providers like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, etc. would be allowed to have tiered, differential pricing. Internet packages would be similar to