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White House launches new scheme to connect more Americans to the Internet

23 July 2015

by Tom Teodorczuk

The White House has launched its most ambitious initiative to date to connect more low-income American citizens to the Internet.

ConnectHome, a nationwide collaboration between the government and the private sector, will bring high speed broadband to 275,000 low-income households and public housing residents in 27 US cities.

Internet Service Providers and companies including EveryoneOn, US Ignite, Google Fiber, GitHub and Best Buy will partner with the US government to offer broadband access, devices and technical support to residents at low cost or for free.

The ConnectHome scheme, organised by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is a policy extension of ConnectED, a 2013 White House initiative which aims to connect 99 percent of American students to high-speed Internet in their classrooms and libraries in the course of the next five years.

Launching the scheme in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, President Obama said he hoped ConnectHome would find “the next Mark Zuckerberg or the next Bill Gates. If we don’t get these young people the access to what they need to achieve their potential, it’s our loss, not just their loss.”

President Obama added: “The Internet is not a luxury; it’s a necessity.”

A HUD spokesperson told Cities Today the purpose of ConnectHome is equitable in addition to being technological. He said: “Too many people do not have access to learning or information through the Internet. Therefore ConnectHome is about providing people with a digital opportunity in ways that will make Internet adoption more sustainable.”

“Whether it’s adding value to the educational experience by ensuring children can advance their learning or connecting families with the knowledge economy, ConnectHome will reduce the digital divide that exists between the middle class and those on lower incomes,” added the spokesperson.

“Five million households with children do not have high-speed Internet service so the willingness of the private sector to collaborate with ConnectHome reflects the widespread consensus that more Americans should have an opportunity to benefit from being online.”

The scheme coincided with new research from the White House Council of Economic Advisers showing that although nearly two-thirds of the lowest-income households own computers, less than half of households with low-income children have no online access.

The report found that 61 percent of African-American households and 66 percent of Hispanic households have access to the Internet compared with 77 percent of households where the head of the household is white.

Jeff Zients, Director of the National Economic Council at the White House, said: “We’re trying to help as many students as we can while helping to bridge the digital divide. We all know the transformative effect technology has had on the economy.”

ConnectHome is largely being funded by private sector companies. The services offered by the scheme vary throughout American cities. Tablets loaded with educational software are available in some cities for the discounted price of US$30 while the cost of broadband service ranges between US$9.95 and US$14.95 and is free in some public housing communities.

According to the Pew Research Center, 92 percent of households with incomes between US$100,000 and US$150,000 have broadband access but less than half of households below the US$25,000 income level have high-speed Internet.

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