FCC chief proposes subsidized broadband for the poor

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 28 May 2015

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler is circulating a plan on Thursday proposing to subsidize high-speed internet access for low-income Americans. The federal government has been helping people pay for telephone service for 30 years, because phones are considered crucial to finding work, getting medical service, and climbing out of poverty. Wheeler's proposal to change the $1.7 billion subsidy program to include broadband reflects the FCC's recognition that high-speed internet service also is now essential. Read more at The New York Times.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.

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