$9.25 a month or $111/yr isn't going to do much in the way of helping.. maybe I'm wrong. My cell bill is ~$75/mo per line and my internet is around the same.

My question would be, if you're so poor you need a $9.25/mo subsidy, wtf are you paying $65/mo for a phone?

I would rather see $1.5 Billion annually go to something better like, oh I dunno, breaking up communication monopolies and curbing extreme price fixing and outrageous prices. Where most of the world pays "dirt-cheap" prices for stellar services, the US pays MORE for less... Imagine if high speed internet was $30-$50/mo or a cell phone for the same... more savings than $9.25.

And no, I could care less about hurting company business: Record profits, highest prices, worst service.

It would be better to work on breaking up monopolies and bringing costs down for everyone.

for low income customers. If this additional subsidy can be applied, that would leave it at 70 cents monthly (plus a modem rental or purchase). You do have to reapply each year to qualify.

http://www.centurylink.com/home/internetbasics/?rid=internetbasics

is fixed at about $11,000. Lots of elderly are in he same boat--esp. elderly woman who typically did not work full time in their early years and have very little Soc Security checks

Saving about 10.00 a month will help her a lot. I am glad to finally see this.

to get a job without internet access. Everyone wants you to apply online

Awesome!



The ACA model applied to communications. Heaven forbid we should do anything to cut into profits.

Instead we'll give some folks a coupon (paid for by the folks who are already being gouged) so they can get to be gouged, less the 5% discount.

Thanks a lot.

How about making communications infrastructure a utility? One that includes a base level of service with add-on if you want them.

It might just cause a little INNO-FUKIN-VATION!!!

(And, yes, I reversed the cliche on purpose.)

You're so worked up over the fact that someone, somewhere, is making a profit on this, that you can't bring yourself to support a program that gives phone access (and, soon, internet access) to millions of Americans.

You've heard of those. Was quite rage before reagan privatized everything. Hel, we got electricity, phone, water, sewage.

Basically how it works is the the municipality owns the backbone. You know there are actually places in the country where cable company leases bandwidth from the people-owned infrastructure?

In fact we have a city in the US that has had an amazing boom in their economy by doing a municipal backbone. Maybe you heard of it -- Chatanooga. When the republicans introduced a bill to make it illegal for a municipality to offer such a thing, it was because of this.

Educationally.