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Within the blink of an eye, the coronavirus pandemic has changed daily life for the majority of people in the United States. Millions have been laid off and education, health care, non-essential work and even basic human contact are all moving online. The last thing people need to worry about right now is their internet and phone bills. And yet prices are so high that nationwide 22% of households don’t have home internet — including more than 4 million households with school-aged children. Only 56% of households making less than $20,000 have home broadband, and low-income Black and Hispanic households are even less likely to have home internet than their low-income white counterparts. The time to act is NOW. Congress’ “COVID 3” stimulus package offers next-to-no support to get and keep people online now — even though members of both parties endlessly bemoan the lack of broadband in their districts year after year. We need your help: Demand that companies like AT&T, Comcast, Cox, T-Mobile and Verizon provide low-to-no-cost unlimited service during the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. Social distancing and being in quarantine mean that millions of people are relying on at-home internet and phone access to reach the outside world. In fact, I’m writing to you from my apartment because Free Press wisely closed our office two weeks ago. During this kind of unprecedented crisis, internet and phone access should be accessible public services — like water and electricity. Tell the ISPs: It’s time to step up. I hope you and your loved ones are well. Thank you for all that you do— Heather freepress.net 
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Saturday, March 28, 2020
COVID-19 means we need the internet more than ever
