How the federal affordable internet program can help bridge Youngstown’s digital divide

President Joe Biden announced Monday that 20 internet companies have agreed to provide discounted service to people with low incomes, a program that could effectively make tens of millions of households eligible for free service through an already existing federal subsidy.

“High speed internet is not a luxury any longer. It’s a necessity,” Biden said at a sun-drenched rose garden event with representatives from participating companies, as well as members of Congress.

The $1 trillion infrastructure package passed by Congress last year included $14.2 billion funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides $30 monthly subsidies ($75 in tribal areas) on internet service for millions of lower-income households.

With the new commitment from the internet providers, some 48 million households will be eligible for $30 monthly plans for 100 megabits per second, or higher speed, service — making internet service fully paid for with government assistance if they sign up with one of the providers participating in the program.

Biden noted that families of four earning up to $55,500 annually — or those including someone eligible for Medicaid — will get a $30 monthly credit, meaning about 40 percent of Americans will qualify.

“This is a case where big business stepped up. We’re trying to get others to do the same thing,” Biden told the crowd to sustained applause. “It’s going to change peoples’ lives.”

The impact in the Valley

For a two-person household, that federal poverty threshold is $36,620.

About 14% of the 98,400 total households in Mahoning County and 15% of the 85,600 total households in Trumbull County made less than that in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Youngstown ranked 43rd worst in the nation for broadband connectivity in a 2018 ranking of U.S. cities by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance.

In the Mahoning Valley’s urban areas, affordability is a bigger issue than accessibility, said Steve Kristan, Eastgate Regional Council of Governments’ broadband coordinator.

The average monthly price for cable broadband service in Mahoning, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties is about $91, according to a broadband feasibility study conducted by Eastgate in 2020

More than 72% of households Eastgate surveyed reported paying between $40 and $85 per month for internet services. Another nearly 18% reported paying more than $85.

“You look at the economic impact on this — it’s huge,” Kristan told Mahoning Matters.

If 1,000 low-income households were to take advantage of the $30 monthly discounts, that equals $360,000 in yearly spending that could stay in the Valley, he said.

The 20 internet companies that have agreed to lower their rates for eligible consumers provide service in areas where 80% of the U.S. population, including 50% of the rural population, live, the president said. Participating companies that offer service on tribal lands are providing $75 rates in those areas, the equivalent of the federal government subsidy in those areas.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also met Monday with telecom executives, members of Congress and others to spotlight the effort to improve access to high-speed internet for low-income households. The president said a top priority going forward will be increasing competition among internet providers in many parts of the country, noting that millions of Americans live in areas with just one provider and currently pay higher prices because of it.

But the local impact of broadband discounts is personal as well, Kristan said.

The Youngstown nonprofit Oak Hill Collaborative, which works to bridge the city’s digital divide, started helping residents enroll for the new federal discount earlier this year. By the end of February, about 10,000 households in Youngstown-area ZIP codes had signed up, Kristan said.

One woman, he recalled, struggled to afford broadband service so she could video-call her husband, who was serving in the military overseas. Another was a single mother who found it easier to set remote telehealth visits or shop online, rather than marshal her children onto public transportation to run errands. Many more were seniors looking to stay independent, and were enticed by the new savings.

‘It might be a game-changer’

Some advocates for the program, however, were cautiously optimistic.

“It might be a game-changer,” said Marty Newell, coordinator for Rural Broadband Policy at the Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, Kentucky, where he said slow internet has plagued residents and businesses alike.

Newell said he wanted to see more about what the program will mean going forward, but that his main question is — given that increased broadband access has generally been a bipartisan issue in Congress — “What took them so long?”

Biden, during his White House run and the push for the infrastructure bill, made expanding high-speed internet access in rural and low-income areas a priority. He has repeatedly spoken out about low-income families that struggled finding reliable Wi-Fi, so their children could take part in remote schooling and complete homework assignments early in the coronavirus pandemic, including, he said Monday, families driving to McDonald’s parking lots to access wireless internet inside the restaurant.

After the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County branches extended Wi-Fi signals into their parking lots, noticing that more people were still pulling up after close just to get online, said library system spokesperson Maggie Henderson.

Nearly 40,000 households in Mahoning, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties, about 18%, don’t have internet access, according to Eastgate’s study. Nearly 50,000 households don’t have an internet subscription, and about 23,000 use only cellphones for internet access, the study found. More of the households without internet devices are households making less than $35,000 per year — about 32,000 households, the study shows.

The libraries’ free Wi-Fi hotspots were checked out more than 1,600 times last year, making them the most in-demand item, she said.

The library system started offering hotspots in 2016, but they were usually on a wait list, she said. The library received about $171,000 in federal funding in October to buy 50 more, making nearly 200 total devices available.

This summer, the library wants to bring back its popular how-to programs, teaching patrons how to better use their devices, email or word processors.

Oak Hill Collaborative also offers free computer literacy training sessions, and low-cost refurbished PCs, Kristan said. Just like increasing accessibility and affordability, a big part of bridging the digital divide is encouraging adoption and digital literacy, he said.

“If I can give people access to information, they can make better decisions on their health, better decisions on their life,” he said. “It’s all access to information. That’s the key. What we have to do is equalize that.”

Do I qualify?

The new federal portal GetInternet.gov has more details on the program and how to sign up for the discount. You can also call 877-384-2575 to get a mail-in enrollment form.

Households qualify for the Affordable Connectivity Program if their income is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level — which is $55,500 for a household of four people — or whether they participate in federal programs including:

• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as Food Stamps;
• Medicaid;
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children;
• Supplemental Security Income;
• Federal Public Housing Assistance;
• Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit;
• Free and Reduced-Price School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program, including at U.S. Department of Agriculture Community Eligibility Provision schools;
• Federal Pell Grant (received in the current award year);
• Lifeline;
• Certain Tribal assistance programs, including Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Head Start (only households meeting the income qualifying standard), Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.

Where can you get connected?

Kristan recommended Valley residents call Oak Hill Collaborative at 330-406-0271, which has hired an intake worker to help speed up enrollment. Whereas the process once took about an hour, Oak Hill now has it down to 15 minutes, he said.

Residents should have proof-of-income, like a tax form, on-hand. Those who are eligible due to the programs listed above have to show proof that they receive those benefits, Kristan said.

Once enrollment is done and the government approves an applicant’s qualifications, providers will automatically take the discounts off that customer’s bill, he said. They can even switch internet service providers later and keep their discount, he said.

Nationwide, the participating providers are Allo Communications, AltaFiber (and Hawaiian Telecom), Altice USA (Optimum and Suddenlink), Astound, AT&T, Breezeline, Comcast, Comporium, Frontier, IdeaTek, Cox Communications, Jackson Energy Authority, MediaCom, MLGC, Spectrum (Charter Communications), Starry, Verizon (Fios only), Vermont Telephone Co., Vexus Fiber and Wow! Internet, Cable, and TV.

In the Youngstown area, companies offering home internet service through the program include:

• Armstrong;
• AT&T;
• Cox;
• Earthlink;
• Spectrum;
• Verizon;
• Windstream.

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Associated Press reporters Aamer Madhani and Will Weissert and Mahoning Matters staff contributed to this report.

This story was originally published May 9, 2022 at 1:09 PM.