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Codebreaker

Big FCC push for net access for poorer families

John Moe Nov 10, 2011

We’re starting to really see how extensive the push is for this new FCC initiative to bring broadband access to low income households. The centerpiece, announced yesterday, is $9.99 per month broadband Internet. It’s an introductory price and good for two years, the hope being that those families will become so hooked on fast Internet that they will want to pay more for it after those two years expire (although there’s presumably a strong possibility that their income would not have changed significantly).

Anyway, a lot of major cable and Internet providers were behind this, including Comcast and Time Warner Cable. The New York Times reports that broadband has a pretty huge markup so the companies won’t be losing much money on this. Suddenly I’m not so crazy about my Internet bill.

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