Almost 40% of Sonoma County households are eligible for free internet service, but only one-tenth have signed up

Here’s all you need to know about the benefits, barriers and signing up

Roughly 71,600 Sonoma County households could have free high-speed internet service via a federal subsidy program, yet only about 10% of those who are eligible have enrolled. Marin and Napa counties have similarly low enrollment.

In Mendocino and Lake counties, where more than half of households qualify for the discount aimed at low-income residents, only 13% and 26% have signed up, respectively.

For better or worse, internet access has increasingly become a necessity to function and interact in our world, a process rapidly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As large swaths of work and school and critical services like medical appointments and emergency communications moved online, the disadvantages long faced by those without consistent internet service have only become more glaring.

As a 2020-2021 Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury investigation noted, “The lack of affordable broadband access limits the ability of both adults and children to advance in an ever more digital world. Without good internet access, the socioeconomic divide widens; the poor are further excluded from the economy and even more relegated to low-pay work. Broadband availability is a major issue of equity, social, and economic justice.”

The investigation added, “Disadvantaged citizens are further disadvantaged and separated from opportunities to earn, learn, and even stay healthy.”

Many factors contribute to our digital divide. Beyond a lack of broadband infrastructure, there are also barriers around digital literacy and, of course, cost.

California has undertaken a number of initiatives over the past several years to prioritize equitable and widespread internet adoption. The federal government, too, has rolled out broadband infrastructure funding and projects, especially as part of its COVID-19 response and the bipartisan infrastructure law.

The latter authorized the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), the subsidy program in question, which aims to reduce costs for underserved communities by offering a $30 discount on internet bills (as well as a one-time $100 off for a computer or tablet.)

To sweeten the deal and keep internet companies from gaming the system by raising prices, President Joe Biden announced a deal in May that 20 providers had agreed to offer a high-speed internet option at the same cost as the federal discount--making service free for eligible low-income participants.

Barriers to adoption

Still, months later, while 45% of California households, or about 5.8 million, are eligible for the program, only 27% have enrolled.

As noted, these figures are worse in our region.

“Why is that enrollment as low as it is? Well, because nobody is aware of it,” said Sunne Wright McPeak, president and CEO of the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), a unique statewide nonprofit with a mandate to improve affordable internet accessibility. It was established as a condition of the California Public Utilities Commission's approval of the SBC-AT&T and Verizon-MCI mergers in 2005 and reports to the legislature every year.

McPeak pointed to the many focus groups the technology fund has conducted over the years that show that less than 40% of people who are eligible for affordable broadband programs historically and today know about the available opportunities.

Moreover, at least 20% need help signing up in one way or another, either because of a language barrier, confusion over eligibility documentation, or, ironically, a lack of internet or computer access.

California actually has the most sign-ups in the federal program so far. And, in fact, when it comes to general broadband adoption, about 90% of the state’s households have internet connection through a smartphone, computer or tablet.

Still, that leaves one-tenth of the population without access and, regardless, the percentage is significantly lower in certain communities, including elderly, extremely low-income, disabled and Spanish-speaking Latino populations.

With that in mind, when it comes to the 27% or almost 1.6 million eligible Californians who have signed up for ACP, “we're happy to be there,” McPeak told me.

“However, we are 13% of the population of the country, and we have 15% of all low-income households in the nation living in California, so we have to really make this a priority.”

Mobilization efforts

The emerging technology fund is part of an effort launching this month with the California Broadband Council and the California Department of Technology to boost awareness and enrollment in the ACP. It culminates with a series of enrollment events throughout the state Aug. 27, where people can get help with questions or completing applications on-site.

Event locations and details will be added as they’re identified on a rolling basis at www.internetforallnow.org/events/get-connected-california/.

Part of the challenge, McPeak said, is that internet companies and sales agents can make the process difficult or confusing and often times try to upsell customers attempting to sign up for free service.

That’s one reason the fund and its partners are pressuring providers to do more and better advertising of the discount. They’re also pushing for greater involvement of trusted and connected spokespeople like community-based organizations and public agencies, especially those that are already tapped into the populations eligible for ACP.

McPeak noted that state, county and city agencies that administer major public assistance or university systems overseeing Pell Grants notifying their participants about the federal program could go a long way since they’d all qualify.

It can be tough to get buy-in, though, given competing demands on time and resources of overwhelmed staff and budgets.

Indeed, locally, “the need for a quality broadband connection that allows access for everyone to all media is widely understood by the leaders of Sonoma County, but not enough has been done to achieve this goal,” the Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury report stated.

“The County has been forced to react to seemingly endless disasters: annual wildfires, homelessness, flooding, and COVID-19. A proactive approach toward solving the quiet crisis of broadband availability has not appeared to be a sufficiently high priority.”

“There’s always inertia in the system,” McPeak said. “Everybody seems to be beleaguered particularly in the public sector.”

To ease the burden, the fund created a toolkit for nonprofits, educational institutions and agencies, that includes flyers, print online and broadcast ads and newsletter text for organizations and entities interested in participating in the awareness campaign. It’s available at www.internetforallnow.org/acp-toolkit/.

McPeak insisted widespread affordable internet access is a win-win by providing community-based organizations and government more efficient and streamlined communication and service channels, and most importantly, by keeping those who are most in need from being cut off from accessing growing portions of our society and resources.

“It's a powerful tool. It does save us time and money,” McPeak told me.

“We want that to be available for particularly the most disadvantaged folks economically because they have the least time and the least money. So it actually makes more of a difference in the lives of those who are not online today to get online.”

More information on eligibility and signing up is available at www.internetforallnow.org/applytoday/ or by calling an ACP coordinator at 866-696-8748.

If you have questions or have encountered challenges signing up for the ACP or other discount internet service programs, please reach out to me.

“In Your Corner” is a new column that puts watchdog reporting to work for the community. If you have a concern, a tip, or a hunch, you can reach “In Your Corner” Columnist Marisa Endicott at 707-521-5470 or marisa.endicott@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @InYourCornerTPD and Facebook @InYourCornerTPD.