Nearly a third of low-income broadband users could not afford home broadband service, Pew finds

A Pew Research Center survey of US adults found that nearly a third of households with annual incomes under $30,000, a quarter of those earning between $30,000-$50,000, and 15 percent of all home broadband users have had problems paying for broadband service. 

The Pew survey highlights the importance of government programs intended to help low-income households access essential telecommunication services. For example, the recently launched $3.2 billion temporary FCC Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB) enrolled over one million households in its first week of operation. The EBB program reimburses eligible carriers $50 per month ($75 per month on Tribal lands) to provide discounted broadband service and $100 reimbursement for a connected device (e.g. computer or tablet) to low-income households during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Links:

34% of lower-income home broadband users have had trouble paying for their service amid COVID-19 (Pew Research Center, June 3, 2021)

FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program enrolls over one million households in its first week (Speed Matters, June 1, 2021)