Connect2Compete (C2C), the cable operator-backed public-private
partnership for broadband deployment and adoption to low-income households, is
getting a $3 million infusion from the Knight Foundation.
C2C was
launched by the FCC last November, expanding
on Comcast's Internet Essentials model of providing low-cost broadband --
$9.95 a month -- digital literacy education and a low-cost computer to every
home with a school-age child who qualifies for the nation's free-lunch program.
C2C had a three-year goal of raising $20 million to help
provide those computers, access and training, and is now over a third of the
way there including a $3 million donation from the foundation of Mexican
telecommunications entrepreneur CarlosSlim in May. The Slim donation is to help fund a digital literacy ad
campaign in conjunction with the Ad Council, which produces and distributes PSAs
by putting together donated creative with donated ad time from broadcasters,
cable operators and others.
"Low-income and minority Americans disproportionately find
themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide - excluded from the $8
trillion digital economy and all of its benefits. So it is extremely
gratifying to have the long-term support of the Knight Foundation to bridge
that divide," said C2C CEO Zach Leverenz in a statement.
C2C is in the process of launching a national pilot program
in almost 1,000 communities in 22 states.
The White House and FCC are pushing for universal broadband
adoption as government services, education, health care, entertainment are
moving online.
