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AT&T will stop exploiting a loophole that it used to deny a discounted home Internet service to poor people in areas where it hasn’t upgraded its network.
AT&T’s purchase of DirecTV came with a Federal Communications Commission requirement to offer Internet service for either $5 or $10 a month to households in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). But AT&T was able to avoid making this discount price available to low-income people in areas where its network doesn’t support download speeds of at least 3Mbps.
A broadband advocacy group called the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) asked AT&T to reconsider recently, and AT&T denied the request. But AT&T changed its mind after the NDIA wrote a blog post that was widely shared by news media and fueled criticism of the carrier.
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Source: Ars Technica – AT&T changes mind about denying discounted service to poor people