Sprint said it will give away 1 million mobile devices over the next five years in an effort to help connect disadvantaged high school students to the internet. The carrier also is donating data so students can connect to the Sprint network to do homework. The carrier said this is the largest corporate initiative in U.S. history aimed at closing the digital divide.
The “homework gap” is one of the digital divide’s deepest chasms. Jessica Rosenworcel, a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission, addressed the issue recently in a speech delivered at the annual convention of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Administrators.
“Today we have data that show that seven in 10 teachers assign homework that requires internet access,” Rosenworcel said. “But data from the FCC consistently demonstrate that one in three households does not have broadband at home. And if you think about where those numbers overlap, that’s what I call a homework gap. According to the Pew Research Center, the homework gap is real. We have 29 million households in this country with school-age children, and 5 million of those households have no internet access. … It’s not just about them, it’s about us. Our shared economic future depends on us having a smart, digital workforce.”
Sprint said each eligible student will get a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, or a mobile hot spot device, depending on availability. The carrier has access to a steady supply of refurbished devices thanks to its close relationship with Brightstar, one of the world’s largest smartphone distributors. Brightstar and Sprint are both majority-owned by Japan’s SoftBank, and Brightstar was founded by Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure.
“Education is the foundation for our society to prosper, and the internet is an incredibly powerful tool for learning,” said Claure in a statement. “But it’s a huge problem in America that we have 5 million households with children that lack internet connections. Those kids have a huge disadvantage and we are failing them. All of us at Sprint are committed to changing this by providing 1 million students in need with free devices and free wireless connections.”
Sprint is providing the students who get devices with 3 gigabytes of free LTE data each month, and unlimited 2G data once they have used their allotted LTE data. The carrier will implement the program through two nonprofit agencies, EveryoneOn and My Brother’s Keeper Alliance. These agencies will in turn recruit community organizations like schools, libraries, public-housing authorities and other nonprofits to deliver the devices, and activate the mobile internet service.
Earlier this year, the FCC passed a set of reforms to its Lifeline program which included support for broadband in low-income homes. Lifeline is paid for by the Universal Service Fund, which mobile network subscribers pay for on their cell phone bills.
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