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Councilmember Rice Invited to White House for Launch of Affordable Internet Program

Due to his efforts to bring affordable high-speed internet service to those who cannot afford it, Councilmember Rice visited the White House Monday as a guest of President Joe Biden. He discussed the visit and his plan at the weekly Montgomery County Council meeting on Tuesday.

The Biden Administration partnered with 20 of the nation’s largest internet service providers to offer internet plan options entirely funded by the Affordable Connective Program to reduce internet service costs. Each internet service plan covered by this new initiative offers minimum speeds of 100 Megabits per second download. The plans do not include additional fees or data caps.

Those eligible will be be provided with up to $30 per month for their internet bill and many of them will be able to access the services for free. The White House said this will help some 48 million families.

Also, the White House launched GetInternet.gov, a website where people learn about and sign up for the program.

Rice called the new program “transformative.”

“It is really important for us to understand that the absence of high speed internet has become a major barrier to socioeconomic opportunity as well as education, health and overall quality of life,” Rice told his fellow councilmembers.

Rice has been working on this through his role with the National Association of Counties. He co-chaired the association’s Broadband Task Force in 2021.

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