Subsidized Broadband: FCC Chairman Plans to Expand ‘Obama Phone’ Program to Internet

Subsidized Broadband: FCC Chairman Plans to Expand ‘Obama Phone’ Program to Internet: "Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler announced on Thursday that he intends to expand Lifeline, popularly known as the “Obama Phone” program, to the Internet.
“I am circulating new proposals to “reboot” Lifeline for the Internet age,” Wheeler wrote in a blog post on the FCC’s Website.
He said the reboot would include “establishing minimum standards of service for voice and broadband,” in addition to subsidies for low-income consumers.
Lifeline is a government benefit program that provides a monthly subsidy of $9.95 on telephone service for those at or below 135 percent of the poverty line so they can connect to the nation's communications networks, find jobs, access health care services, connect with family and their children's schools, and call for help in an emergency."