{"id":32326,"date":"2020-03-23T21:41:25","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T21:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/e-ratepaorg.local\/?p=32326"},"modified":"2020-03-23T21:43:53","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T21:43:53","slug":"32326","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=32326","title":{"rendered":"Wireless\/Other Off-Campus Internet Resources"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #222222;\">March 23, 2020<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Dear E-rate Family,<\/p>\n<p>I realize wireless connectivity is one of the biggest issues you\u2019re facing right now and so I\u2019ve compiled a list of resources that may be helpful.\u00a0 This list will be posted at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.e-ratepaorg.local\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.e-ratepaorg.local&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFO8XLbdqOTHju057PhDbXmEES7hw\">http:\/\/www.e-ratepaorg.local<\/a>\u00a0under the new COVID-19 tab, along with other related pandemic messages that touch on E-rate and connectivity.\u00a0 If you discover any offers that are not listed below, please let me know so I can add them to the page.\u00a0 (Of course, I\u2019m not endorsing these companies.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aircards\/Jetpacks:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0I do not know of any wireless providers that are currently offering\u00a0<em>free<\/em>\u00a0devices\/service. \u00a0The FCC and Congress are currently considering measures that may provide funding for such connectivity and how those funds would be administered.\u00a0 Stay tuned.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 T-Mobile has announced that current T-Mobile wireless customers who have cell-phone plans with data will be granted unlimited smartphone data\u00a0for the next 60 days. \u00a0They&#8217;ll also receive an additional 20GB of mobile hot spot\/tethering service for those two months. \u00a0In addition, T-Mobile is increasing the data allowance for free to their schools and students using their EmpowerED digital learning programs to ensure each participant has access to at least 20GB of data per month for the next 60 days.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Free Increased Bandwidth for Schools\/Libraries:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Zito Media is offering to their existing education, library and healthcare customers increased Internet bandwidth, free of charge, if it is needed due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Free Community Wi-Fi Hot-Spots:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0The FCC has asked the nation\u2019s telecommunications companies to take the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcc.gov\/keep-americans-connected\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.fcc.gov\/keep-americans-connected&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEjW-nlLIdIqxrzRq_FfnEEhGY4WA\">https:\/\/www.fcc.gov\/keep-americans-connected<\/a>, which includes a commitment that vendors make their community Wi-Fi Hotspots open and free to all.\u00a0 These are the ones I could find; please let me know if there are others, particularly small PA providers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Comcast\/Xfinity &#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/hotspots.wifi.xfinity.com\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/hotspots.wifi.xfinity.com\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHwrOAhCcR6UzZHW1Q5SomJZs_FGw\">https:\/\/hotspots.wifi.xfinity.com\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>PenTeleData\/Service Electric &#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ptdunleashed.com\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.ptdunleashed.com\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHNY7bBUu3c-b9K16M65Hi61c1RLw\">http:\/\/www.ptdunleashed.com\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Zito Media &#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.zitomedia.net\/wifi\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.zitomedia.net\/wifi\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHvfn_uajGJQ-L_Ik9nVTYUqXv5Qw\">https:\/\/www.zitomedia.net\/wifi\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Frontier &#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.frontierwifi.com\/coverageareafrontier.aspx\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.frontierwifi.com\/coverageareafrontier.aspx&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGMA1HSjM19od4K78uGaH0Bm00kYg\">http:\/\/www.frontierwifi.com\/coverageareafrontier.aspx<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Charter Spectrum &#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spectrum.com\/wifi-hotspots\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.spectrum.com\/wifi-hotspots&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF7JhLKhChFIP6-Bl_WDFwHvaZ43w\">https:\/\/www.spectrum.com\/wifi-hotspots<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Lackawanna County Free Wi-Fi &#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lackawannacounty.org\/index.php\/wireless\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.lackawannacounty.org\/index.php\/wireless&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEMohup3DRMFrXkHu5AKc5cNLZyPg\">https:\/\/www.lackawannacounty.org\/index.php\/wireless<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Atlantic Broadband &#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/atlanticbb.com\/my-services\/my-account\/wifi-hotspots\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/atlanticbb.com\/my-services\/my-account\/wifi-hotspots&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEYKLqIdFxoU3DaLkgs6BhRZ7zVzw\">https:\/\/atlanticbb.com\/my-services\/my-account\/wifi-hotspots<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>National Free Wi-Fi Map<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wifimap.io\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.wifimap.io\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEQvt-4roW4nSpxDCr13rzYjEtdPQ\">https:\/\/www.wifimap.io\/<\/a>.\u00a0 Many of these locations are restaurants that are now closed, but their parking lots may continue to have active service.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Library Parking Lot Wi-Fi:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0The American Library Association has asked every library in the country to keep their Wi-Fi open during the shutdown so patrons can access it from their parking lots.\u00a0 I know of at least one PA library that is allowing\/encouraging the community to use their free Wi-Fi in the library parking lot, in the safety of their cars (see wonderful picture at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?page_id=32310\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?page_id%3D32310&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGYd3XxTHr7wD-XwxqVX8KWkdFxyA\">https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?page_id=32310<\/a>).\u00a0 As long as the Internet doesn\u2019t extend beyond the school or library\u2019s property boundary, I don\u2019t think there are any E-rate rules that would prohibit it.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s a fantastic idea.\u00a0 If you know of any schools or libraries that are making their Wi-Fi available to the public from their parking lots, please let me know (and share a picture if you can).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Low-Cost Home Internet:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Several companies have low-cost, home-based Internet for low-income households.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Comcast\/Xfinity \u2013 Comcast will offer new residential, low-income customers its $9.95-per-month Internet Essentials program free for 60 days. The company is also boosting the internet service speeds in this program from 15\/2 Mbps to 25\/3 Mbps, which qualifies the service as high-speed broadband under FCC guidelines. \u00a0Comcast will also suspend data caps for 60 days.\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/internetessentials.com\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/internetessentials.com\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG4YCTC7z3gcP_jQrxLoKueMxprvQ\">https:\/\/internetessentials.com\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Zito Media &#8211; Zito Media will provide its 20 Mbps Internet Service free of charge for two months to low income residents.<\/li>\n<li>AT&amp;T \u2013 AT&amp;T\u2019s Access program provides $10\/month home-based Internet to limited income households.\u00a0 Also offering\u00a0two months of free service\u00a0to new Access customers who order by April 30, 2020 ($10\/mo thereafter) and waiving all home internet data overage fees. \u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/digitalyou.att.com\/low-cost-internet\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/digitalyou.att.com\/low-cost-internet\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNERUKLOmL_29WNQv6sC0b3zEnIMtw\">https:\/\/digitalyou.att.com\/low-cost-internet\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Charter Spectrum (formerly Time Warner Cable) &#8211; Charter will offer free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12 and\/or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription at any service level up to 100 Mbps. To enroll call 1-844-488-8395. Installation fees will be waived for new student households.<\/li>\n<li>CenturyLink:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0CenturyLink is suspending data usage limits for consumer customers during this time period due to COVID-19.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Federal Lifeline Program:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Lifeline\u00a0is one of the four federal Universal Service programs (E-rate is also one) that lowers the monthly cost of phone or internet for low-income households. \u00a0Eligible customers can receive up to $9.25 toward their bill.\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifelinesupport.org\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.lifelinesupport.org\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360371000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFxuW6O3eMZX_JRX4jyVZ0WSoz9og\">https:\/\/www.lifelinesupport.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Grant\/Funding Opportunities:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0The following are initiatives that can help with student-home connectivity, but likely not for the next few weeks.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1Million Project: \u00a0Partners with high schools to provide students with reliable Internet access at home by giving them mobile devices and free high-speed Internet access.\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.1millionproject.org\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.1millionproject.org\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360372000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH-2BsXeNhBloSw1mIU1wWYsLwCeA\">http:\/\/www.1millionproject.org\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>T-Mobile\u2019s EmpowerED:\u00a0 Initiative that provides wireless data service to students for $20\/month with a 2-year commitment, go to:\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.t-mobile.com\/business\/education\/empowered2\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.t-mobile.com\/business\/education\/empowered2&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360372000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFDG1x3Udc6YuAHSmlubvK4OpGWOA\">https:\/\/www.t-mobile.com\/business\/education\/empowered2<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Stay healthy, my E-rate family, and please let me know how I can help you during this time.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; Julie<\/p>\n<p>Julie Tritt Schell<br \/>\nPennsylvania E-rate Coordinator<br \/>\n717-730-7133 &#8211; o<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:jtschell@comcast.net\">jtschell@comcast.net<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.e-ratepaorg.local\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.e-ratepaorg.local\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585085360372000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH-T8eZ6rNGn8TGsO6Tl3NKomFX4g\">www.e-ratepa.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"twitter-share\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?via=eratepenn\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-size=\"large\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>March 23, 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-listserve_archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32326\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}