Jennifer Richter and Preston Wise Quoted in Law360 on Effectiveness of Emergency Broadband Benefit Program Rollout

Law360, in its article “ISP Info Gaps, Price Hikes Top List Of EBB Gripes,” has quoted Akin Gump communications and information technology practice head Jennifer Richter and associate Preston Wise on the effectiveness of the government’s Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program.

Established late last year, the article says the EBB is meant to respond to a widespread lack of affordable Internet service at a time when many Americans have been working and learning remotely. According to Law360, the program subsidizes up to $50 of a qualifying household’s monthly Internet bill or up to $75 of monthly Internet service on tribal lands. It can also cover partial expenses toward equipment purchase that would allow households to get online. The discounts will end when the $3.2 billion in federal funding runs out.

Some of the problems that people have reported can likely be attributed to the sheer size and complexity of the program, said Wise, who previously served as an adviser to former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

“In many ways, this is uncharted territory. The commission has simply never done a program of this scale set up this fast,” Wise said. “I think some kinks in the system are to be expected.”

In the meantime, Richter said the program is a start toward providing millions of families with subsidized broadband on an unprecedented scale.

“There are a lot of kinks to work out, for sure,” said Richter. “But I think one of the things we’ve realized due to COVID is just how important our broadband connections to the outside world really are.”