DETROIT (WXYZ) — Dozens of Detroiters lined up Tuesday morning to learn more about federal assistance for low income families struggling to afford broadband services.
According to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, one in five households are offline, which accounts for nearly 24 million homes. While the NTIA says 58% of offline households have no interest or need to be online, around 18% of offline homes say they can't afford home internet services.
The gap between people who do and do not have internet access is referred to as the digital divide.
Tuesday at the Focus: Hope building in Detroit, The Detroit National Action Network (NAN) partnered with Comcast to sign people up for discounted services through the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) to help remedy the divide.
"In the city of Detroit, we have a major problem with connectivity. We have a lot of people that are a part of this digital divide," said William Davis with Detroit NAN. "We want as many people as possible to get that credit. We want as many people as possible to not have to worry about at least a part of their internet bill or maybe no internet bill."
Davis says the program backed by the Biden Administration offers a subsidy to help Americans afford internet services. Those who qualify can lower their monthly internet bill to $30 or less. There are also instances where people would qualify for free broadband services.
"We have far too many poor people in the city of Detroit that could easily benefit from this," said Davis. "You have a lot of families making under $30,000 a year and I find that tragic. They need to save wherever they can."
Marcia George was one of the people who attended Tuesday's event in hopes of lowering her bill.
"My internet services are so high and it was not that way before the power went out in August," said George. "All kinds of things brought my bill up and now it’s up to $46 a month and I’m trying to see if I can get it reduced."
After people registered, they were able to sit with someone who could help them navigate the signup process for ACP and learn if they qualified. People were also able to receive one free laptop per household from Comcast.
"It’s a huge problem and it’s everywhere, not just in our urban centers. It’s in rural America as well," said Craig Dagonstini who is the VP of External Affairs for Comcast Michigan.
Dagonstini says Comcast has been working to bridge the gap in the digital divide since 2010 when they launched a program called internet essentials. Dagonstini says through the program they launched the first low-cost broadband service which offers low-cost monthly service, options to purchase a low-cost device, and free digital literacy training.
"In order to get people to sign up for this program, you have to meet them where they are. You can’t just send out an advertisement and expect people to show up," said Dagonstini.
One hundred people were able to walk away with a free laptop in hand. They will also receive one year of free tech support. Comcast said they would capture information from people who arrived after the first 100 people and get them a device at a later time.
Amarion Davis, who’s studying to become a carpenter, was one of the people who received a free computer.
"I’m in construction. I heard about this from my mother," said Davis. "I’m going to use (the computer) for notes, studying, and doing research."
Organizers say there are more programs like Tuesday's to come as they work to get more Detroiters online.
