Does The Government Offer Free Wi-Fi?

You may find it hard to meet your monthly budget, even if you’re not spending carelessly. For instance, you may not go out to eat and avoid shopping for clothes, yet you can barely keep your head above water.

What can help you stay afloat until you get your finances in order? The government. And while you may already know they can help with housing via Section 8, provide food assistance via SNAP, and so on, you may wonder if something similar exists for Internet service.

The answer is yes; the government does offer free Wi-Fi. But you can’t get it just yet. Why? Because while they’ve announced the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, it’s not working at the moment.

What Is the Emergency Broadband Benefit?

Announced in February 2021, the Emergency Broadband Benefit is a new program from the FCC. It was created in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which affected many families in two ways. First, the pandemic created record job loss, causing many families to lose significant income. Second, it caused kids to take classes online while schools closed and made many workers convert their homes into offices.

Less income and the need for the Internet led to the creation of the Emergency Broadband Benefit, which will offer eligible households the following once it goes live:

• $50 to $75 each month towards the Internet bill.
• $100 towards the purchase of a computer.

To qualify for this free Internet program from the government, your household will need to meet one of the following requirements:

• You qualify for a participating provider’s low-income Internet service.
• You are eligible for a COVID-19 Internet program.
• Your single income is less than $99,000, or your joint income is less than $198,000, and you experienced significant financial loss due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• You qualify for the Lifeline program from the FCC, which requires that you make less than 135 percent of the federal poverty guidelines or receive public assistance.
• You have a child that gets breakfasts or lunches from school at a reduced price or for free.
• You have a student who, in this current award year, won a Federal Pell Grant.

Low-Cost Internet Programs

Since the Emergency Broadband Benefit is still in the works, here are some other low-cost Internet programs that may help you in the meantime:

• Access from AT&TAltice Advantage Internet
• Comcast Internet Essentials
• Connect2Compete from Cox or Mediacom
• Internet First
• Lifeline
• Spectrum Internet Assist

For most of those programs, eligibility is limited to households where someone receives an accepted form of public assistance, such as SNAP, SSI, the National School Lunch Program, etc.

You can get fast Internet speeds up to 50 Mbps, which should suffice for video chats, working from home, virtual classes, and the like. And while they may not be free, most of the programs offer service for just $9.95 per month.