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One Company Hoovered Up $3B in Broadband Subsidies
- ortusdux 3y agoSubsidies like this need firm claw-back provisions.
- gnicholas 3y ago> To be eligible for assistance, households generally must have income less than 200% of the federal poverty level or participate in other government assistance programs, such as food stamps, Medicaid or free school meals. Some 40% of U.S. households, or about 48 million, are estimated to qualify. I live in CA, where all kids in public schools receive free lunch. Multiple Comcast reps have told me that I qualify because of this. I have never gone through the process though, since it seems clearly outside the scope of what the law is for. The ISPs love this program because they can jack up their rates and then tell customers who ask to keep their old price that they should sign up for the $30 discount that's paid for by the government. It's a win-win-win for the ISP, the customer, and the politicians. The taxpayers, on the other hand, are on the losing end.
- specialist 3y agoLather, rinse, repeat. I'd rather see bottom up investments. First, the feds allow municipal, co-op, or whatever broadband nationwide. Second, feds created a community investment bank to capitalize local efforts. Modeled after our misc national, state, and local "green banks", but for broadband. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/biden-makes-20-billion-from-federal-green-bank-available-for-clean-energy-projects https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/biden-makes-20-billion... https://www.vox.com/2021/6/1/22454779/green-banks-biden-american-jobs-plan https://www.vox.com/2021/6/1/22454779/green-banks-biden-amer... https://greenbankus.com https://greenbankus.com