Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, access to high-speed internet has been a critical lifeline to jobs, healthcare, school, friends and family, and much more. Broadband access and affordability has been a central tenet of Advocates for Ohio’s Future’s budget advocacy, which is why AOF is excited to share this update on a program to help achieve this goal.
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission announced that the Emergency Broadband Benefit application will go live on May 12, 2021. The Emergency Broadband Benefit is an FCC program that will help families and households who struggle to afford internet service.
Eligible households can receive a discount of up to $50 per month for broadband service, and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. The program also provides a one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, desktop, or tablet from participating providers.
“For many Ohioans, the main barrier to broadband access is not geography, but cost.”
A household is eligible if a member of the household meets one of the criteria below:
Has an income that is at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Level, or already participates in SNAP, Medicaid, or Lifeline
Is approved to receive free and reduced-price school lunches or the school breakfast program in the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school year
Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year
Experienced a substantial loss of income due to job loss or furlough since February 29, 2020
Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating provider's existing low-income or COVID-19 program
Beginning on May 12 households can apply in three ways:
Contact your preferred participating broadband provider directly to learn about their application process. A full list of Ohio participating providers is available here.
Go to GetEmergencyBroadband.org to apply online and to find participating providers near you.
Call 833-511-0311 for a mail-in application, and return it along with proof of eligibility to: Emergency Broadband Support Center, P.O. Box 7081, London, KY 40742
The FCC hosted a webinar on the Emergency Broadband Benefit that can be viewed here. Share this program with your community using the outreach toolkit provided by the FCC here.
by: Sarah Hudacek, AOF Policy Assistant