A number of groups including Common Cause and the Open Technology Institute are calling on the FCC to provide unlimited talk and text to Lifeline recipients.
Lifeline is the Universal Service Fund program that provides basic telecommunications services to low-income residents.
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They want the change immediately and say it is to protect civil rights, specifically by providing equal access to life-saving services during the pandemic.
They also point out that the services can help those assembled in mass protests against police brutality and systemic racism.
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"The pandemic has once again shone a light on the critical importance of telecommunications in health and education. Let’s ensure that we all can afford the connections that many of us take for granted," the groups told the FCC.
"Benton urges the FCC to act to help our most vulnerable neighbors during this national emergency. The pandemic has once again shone a light on the critical importance of telecommunications in health and education. Let’s ensure that we all can afford the connections that many of us take for granted," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, senior counselor at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, another of the groups seeking the change.
