ISPs getting grants must offer “low-cost” plan, but they get to pick the price.

The Trump administration is telling states they will be shut out of a $42 billion broadband deployment fund if they set the rates that Internet service providers receiving subsidies are allowed to charge people with low incomes.

The latest version of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) FAQ on the grant program, released today, is a challenge to states considering laws that would force Internet providers to offer cheap plans to people who meet income eligibility guidelines. One state already has such a law: New York requires ISPs with over 20,000 customers in the state to offer $15 broadband plans with download speeds of at least 25Mbps, or $20-per-month service with 200Mbps speeds.

  • DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works
    1·
    17 hours ago

    it’s bad, it’s very, very bad and I am worried not enough of the thinking people see just how dumb and confused the average median voter is. They literally had no idea if there was a meaningful difference between people like Biden, Harris or Trump. There has been waves of post-election exit-polling and the number one issue people cared about was the price of groceries and they heard Trump scream about it and Harris deliver lines that “sounded like Biden, and he was the one in charge when prices went up.”

    Exactly this. Democrats basically went: “I voted for the dems 4 years ago and my life didn’t get better, why bother voting”