With a federal subsidy ending, nearly 370,000 Mass. households at risk of losing internet access - The Boston Globe (2024)

The initiative that connected Patricio’s family to the internet is the Affordable Connectivity Program. Begun in 2021, it provides eligible low-income households with a $30 discount with certain providers. For families who don’t need a lot of data, that’s enough to cover their entire internet service, while those who need greater capacity get a noticeable $360 over the course of the year.

Now millions of households in the United States, including around 368,000 in Massachusetts, will be losing that subsidy as the connectivity program winds down.

Recipients of the pandemic-era program will receive only about half of their usual subsidy in May, as the Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday there is just enough money left to dole out partial payments before funding runs out entirely.

“This feels like a betrayal or a letdown,” said Vayola Florus, with the City of Boston, who has helped connect locals to resources. “We brought that opportunity, that resource to them and now we’re just taking it away and we don’t have any options after that.”

Florus for the last few years has been signing up families for the program and is now alerting them about the impending loss of the subsidy.

In Boston, almost 50,000 households will be affected, and about 800,000 across New England.

“If those numbers don’t jump out and scare you, I don’t know what will,” said Peter Favorito, the senior digital equity manager for the City of Boston.

Favorito said that while many people who signed up for the program are typically near the federal poverty level, families with children in the Boston school system who receive free or reduced-cost breakfast or lunch, tribal members, people on Medicaid and MassHealth, and military veterans also benefit.

Even his grandfather, Lawrence Carbonaro, is a recipient. The 94-year-old West Roxbury resident said without the internet access, he wouldn’t be able to do the simple things he enjoys, such as reading David Baldacci books on his Kindle.

Lynn Dottin in Hyde Park uses it to share information with her doctors and to read the news. Dottin, a retired health care worker who is now disabled, said the program has helped link her to the rest of the world.

“‘I’m able to connect with some of my friends that are in Pittsburgh or my relatives that are down in Connecticut,” she said. “I’m just able to learn new things on the computer that I probably wouldn’t be able to if I didn’t have it.”

There is a push by politicians to keep funding the program. Governor Maura Healey signed a letter last year joining two dozen other governors in asking congressional leaders for support.

In a statement, Senator Ed Markey called for support from “partners at the table to get this done.”

“I urge Republicans to talk to their constituents to understand how many of them value and depend on this affordable broadband program,” Markey said. “We cannot give back our progress in closing the digital divide by allowing this program to end.”

Florus said she’s aware there’s skeptics of the program.

“We are always finding a misconception that access to the internet is just a luxury,” she said. “It’s just as important as health care, I would say, or education. Because when people are not connected, they are isolated.”

In 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council declared access to the web a human right.

In Massachusetts, the state created a broadband institute in 2008 as part of its efforts to bridge the digital divide.

A recent report from Massachusetts Broadband Institute found that while the state has one of the highest levels of broadband availability in the United States (99 percent of locations have access to cable, fiber, or a digital subscriber line), the main factor blocking people from accessing the internet was the cost. According to the report, the average lowest price for broadband in the state ranged from $42 in Greater Boston to nearly $80 on Cape Cod and the Islands.

Participants surveyed also cited access to a device as a challenge, and in cases where they did have a device, it was often only a smartphone. People without access reported going to libraries, community centers, or a friend or family member’s house to get online.

“Poorer communities have poorer technology infrastructure and are often forced to continue relying on copper wires from legacy phone lines that deliver lower quality of service,” the report states.

“This ‘digital redlining’ mirrors historical redlining in housing that denied communities of color and low-income households equal opportunities.”

There are efforts to keep the program afloat.

There are two bills in Congress that would provide additional funding to keep households connected through the rest of 2024, but it’s unclear if either will make it during a session dominated by debates over immigration, inflation, and other issues competing for attention and dollars.

In Boston, the city funds several grants to refurbish devices and to connect residents to telehealth services, as part of a push for digital equity.

Despite the support, people such as Dottin in Hyde Park, said they are not sure how they will pay their internet bill next month. Many are on fixed incomes, disabled, or struggle to make ends meet.

Librarian Margaret Kelly, who works at the Boston Public Library’s East Boston branch, has helped people sign up for the federal program and is now thinking about next steps. At her location, there’s already 160 people on a waitlist for a free mobile hotspot.

“Unfortunately, if this goes through, I think demand will be massive,” she said.

This story was produced by the Globe’s Money, Power, Inequality team, which covers the racial wealth gap in Greater Boston. You can sign up for the newsletter here.

Esmy Jimenez can be reached at esmy.jimenez@globe.com. Follow her @esmyjimenez.