100,000 disadvantaged households to receive low-cost broadband Internet

March 30^th, 2015 (InsideCostaRica.com) Some 100,000 poor and disadvantaged households throughout the country will receive low-cost broadband Internet connections over the course of the next three years as part of an initiative by the National Telecommunications Fund (Fonatel) to reduce the so-called “digital divide.”

The program known as “Connected Homes” is expected to get underway in July.  Fonatel expects to spend $55 million USD on the project over the course of the next three years.

The program is aimed at poor households that cannot afford Internet connections and will provide connections at a discount ranging from 40% to 80% off standard rates.  Among the disadvantaged targeted by the program are homes with a female head of household, as well as the elderly, indigenous, and people with disabilities, in addition to low-income households.

The aid will be provided as a direct subsidy to Internet service providers.  Three levels of discounts will be offered based on the socioeconomic status of households in the form of 40%, 60%, and 80% rebates, Humberto Pineda, director of Fonatel told Diario Extra.