Bulletins

FCC launches Emergency Broadband Benefit program

About 30 million eligible households will receive a subsidy of up to $50 a month.

The FCC launched the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program Wednesday, in a move to make the internet affordable for eligible customers.

According to the FCC's Internet Access report, 44 million households do not even have a standard broadband connection. That's either because they don't have access or can't afford it. Through the EBB program, 30 million eligible households will receive a subsidy of up to $50 a month; people living on Native American lands may be eligible for up to $75 per month.

"It is a $3.2 billion program designed to assist households struggling to pay for internet service during the pandemic," said FCC Associate Bureau Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Eduard Bartholme during a webinar announcing the program.

The EEB is temporary and will expire when funds are exhausted or six months after the Department of Health and Human Services declares the end of the COVID-19 health emergency.

This story originally published on April 27. It was updated on May 12 to include new information.

Penelope Blackwell

Penelope Blackwell is a reporting fellow at Protocol covering edtech. She reports on the developments in tech that are shaping the future of learning. Previously, she interned at The Baltimore Sun covering emerging news and produced content for Carnegie-Knight's News21 documenting hate and bias incidents in the U.S. She is also a recent graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and Morgan State University.

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