File this one under “they didn’t account for Latino resourcefulness”
*Why you should read this: Because Trump’s FCC Commissioner cut subsidies that make broadband affordable. Because, on the other hand, for U.S. Latinos, broadband is old school. VL
By Victor Landa, NewsTaco (1.5 minute read) 
“The program, known as Lifeline, provides registered households with a $9.25-a-month credit, which can then be used to buy home Internet service. As many as 13 million Americans may be eligible for Lifeline that do not have broadband service at home, the FCC has found. Roughly 900 service providers participate in the Lifeline program.”
The Pew Research Center reports that in 2015 46 percent of Latino adults had home broadband service. It was 45 percent in 2010. So in 5 years home broadband access increased by one percent among U.S. Latino males.
Read more stories about Latino internet use in NewsTaco. >>
[pullquote]The story isn’t the subsidy, it’s the resourcefulness of U.S. Latinos who find a way to get things done.[/pullquote]It’s bad that the subsidy is going away, but it doesn’t look like it was doing a very good job to begin with.
Part of the problem may be outreach, and another part may be that U.S. Latinos don’t access the internet via home broadband – they do it with their mobile devices.
The story isn’t the subsidy, it’s the resourcefulness of U.S. Latinos who find a way to get things done, despite obstacles: kids do their homework on their iPhones, adults look for work on their Androids, you get the picture.
The real story is that it shouldn’t be that hard, and instead of eliminating the subsidies the FCC should be looking at ways to make them more efficient.
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[Photo courtesy of Voto Latino]
