Aditi BaliAccording to recent reports, New York City is planning to give free broadband to 300000 people who live in public housing residences. Read the entire article to learn more about this news piece.
About the free broadband
Recent reports suggest the city will partner with companies like Charter Communications Inc. and Altice USA Inc to make this happen. “In 2022, in the wealthiest city in the country, no one should go without access to the internet,” Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz said in a statement. “It is vital to our daily lives, to succeeding in school and in work, and is how we stay connected as a society.” This is basically a program and it is called ‘Big Apple Connect’.
About the Big Apple Connect
The aim of this program started by New York city is to reduce the digital divide between the rich and the poor. It wants to provide good internet facilities for people who cannot afford it. Internet is a necessity and according to a survey that was done, 30% to 40 people living in this area do not have broadband. This is a fairly large number and this program aims to help overcome this problem and give the chance to the public housing dweller to make a good life for themselves. How is this program unique?
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How is this program unique?
Reports claim that this program is totally different than Altice’s Optimum and Charter’s Spectrum came up where they provided free internet access to students in New York City. This happened after the pandemic hit the country. After this, many parents claimed that this was a scam as after the free period ended, they were forced to pay a big amount for the subscription of the company which they even want. It aims to improve the lives of the people belonging to the economically weaker section by giving them an opportunity to compete with the richest at the same level.
Agreement
The agreement for free broadband for 3 years has the terms mentioned. New York will have to bear the cost of 30$ per household. The city is talking to other companies like Verizon Communications to join the program. The residents will be immensely benefitted from this new deal as now they will be able to save up on their phone bills and they will also be given a discount of $ 30 along with it so they will hardly be spending their money on the recharging of the phone.