PSC Approves Adoption Grants
0n August 30 and Sept. 7, 2016, the Nebraska Public Service Commission approved three broadband adoption grants totaling up to $366,218. Allo and Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) will assist low-income, high-need families in their efforts to obtain affordable access to broadband services in their homes, which will further allow LPS students to increase their educational and employment opportunities. The proposed project is designed initially to target children currently attending LPS whose family income qualifies them for the Federal Free Lunch Program and who will have received or will receive digital hardware from LPS (“Qualified Subscriber”) as part of LPS’s current initiative to provide digital technology to all children attending LPS in the coming years.
Qualified Subscribers will be able to access the new Allo service on a month-to-month basis without a contract, on a prepaid basis. Allo is targeting the new service to cost between $10 to $15 per month with a 20x20 Mbps speed. The Commission approved funding up to $150,000 for the implementation of the proposed project. Arlington Telephone Company, Blair Telephone Company, Eastern Nebraska Telephone Company, Rock County Telephone Company, HunTel CableVision, Consolidated Telephone Company, Consolidated Telco, Inc., Consolidated Telecom, Inc., Curtis Telephone Company, Hamilton Telecommunications, Nebraska Central Telephone Company, Northeast Nebraska Telephone Company and Three River Telco received Nebraska Universal Service Fund support for a broadband adoption grant up to $102,000.
The joint applicants in partnership with local schools, senior centers, libraries, and community centers and Consortia Consulting propose to provide in-depth digital literacy training within their service areas. The project’s training partner, Consortia Consulting, will utilize a "train-the-trainer" model. Consortia will train individuals from each telecommunications provider and will provide all necessary materials and resources needed for the local provider to offer workshops in their communities.
Cox, in partnership with Omaha Public Schools (OPS), received up to $114,218 in support to bring broadband service to low- income students and families in Omaha by modifying a bus to create a Wi-Fi enabled vehicle offering free broadband connectivity and devices to neighborhoods in north Omaha. Cox plans to target students in the Wakonda and Kennedy Elementary School districts in the Omaha Public Schools system. The Wakonda and Kennedy students reside in some of the lowest-income neighborhoods in Nebraska and thus access to broadband in students' homes is more unlikely. OPS will provide learning opportunities for students on the bus and wilI schedule after school activities using Common Sense Media for students and their parents.
From the September/October 2016 issue of Nebraska Broadband