Suzanne Humphries
Last November, T-Mobile said it would roll out Project 10Million, a program that would give free internet to low-income students, if its merger with Spring was successful. Now, T-Mobile has revealed more details about the program, and school administrators can apply to the program.
Project 10Million is a five-year, $10 billion commitment to ensure students around the country can connect to the internet at home. It’ll give eligible households (with K-12 students enrolled in the national School Lunch Program) 100GB of data per year and a free hotspot for five years. Certain school districts will have the option to apply up to $500 per year per student towards additional data plants for further student coverage. Interested districts can fill out a request form, and a T-Mobile education representative will contact them. Parents can also raise their school’s hand by completing a request form as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi8OMEoaMkc
In its press release for the project last year, T-Mobile stated that roughly 15% of American households with children have no home internet, and that most teachers assign online homework. The company calls this the “homework gap,” and is hoping that Project 10Million will mitigate this. Now with more extensive online learning happening nationwide, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project is even more important.
The program does have some fine print, however, and states that the free plan will end after 365 days elapse or once the 100GB is reached, whichever comes first. It also states that speeds will be lowered during congestion and that video will, in most cases, stream at 480p at up to 1.5 Mbps. It also makes a brief note that this is a limited time offer, with limited available lines, and that coverage is not available in some areas
via T-Mobile
