The FCC and its Connect2Compete public private
partnership are launching a computer recycling and donation drive Tuesday.
Redemtech,
the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the Latin American Youth
Center are partnering in the effort to get broadband into the hands of more
low-income families.
Computer
costs are one of the major obstacles to broadband adoption, with almost 60% of
low-income families lacking either a laptop or desktop, and over a third of
those without broadband citing computer cost as a barrier.
In
November, major cable operators including Time Warner Cable and Cox followed
Comcast's Internet Essentials model in pledging to the FCC that they would
offer low-cost ($9.95 per month and no activation fee) broadband for householdswith kids eligible for school lunches.
Mexican
Telecom entrepreneur Carlos Slim Hel's Carlos Slim Foundation in May donated $3million to the Connect2Compete broadband adoption effort
and the Ad Council committed to a multi-year, multilingual PSA campaign to close the
broadband adoption gap.
