Program to offer low-cost Internet to needy Arizona families

PHOENIX — More than one out of every four Arizona students could have their families qualify for low-cost Internet services under the terms of a new program unveiled Monday.

Under the partnership with community leaders, Cox Communications will offer relatively high-speed connections for $9.95 a month to families where family income is low enough so that students qualify for free or low-cost lunch programs. Estimates put that at about 300,000 of the state’s nearly 1.1 million public school students.

Gov. Doug Ducey said less than half of students in low-income homes have Internet connections at home, versus more than 90 percent in high-income families. But the governor said this is about more than just closing the “digital divide” between those with money for Internet connections and those without.

“Today more than 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies require online job applications,” he told an audience at an inner city Phoenix high school.

“About 50 percent of the jobs that are available require computer skills,” the governor continued. “And that number’s only going to continue to grow.”

John Wolfe, a Cox regional vice president, said the need is even more immediate. He said close to four out of every five teachers say they assign online homework.

Cox officials said there will be some outreach at schools in neighborhoods with a high percentage of eligible students.

There are other outreach efforts. For example, Cox is sponsoring free admission on Sept. 7 at the Children’s Museum Tucson where eligible families can sign up for what’s being dubbed Connect 2 Compete.

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But they acknowledged that some people are actually going to have to go find a computer and an Internet connection to get the discount. That means going to a public or school library to log on to “www.ArizonaOn.org” to get into the program.

The plan includes a free modem and no set-up fee. But there are limits, including access to only 100 gigabits per month.

And the download speed is 5 megabits per second, good enough for most typical uses like email and forms but short of what would be needed to stream movies.

Those wanting more can pay $62.51 for a modem, with higher monthly charges for even more data.

Cox spokeswoman Susan Anable said there are no public funds involved, with her company absorbing the difference.

Century Link, the state’s major telephone provider, is also working with the same program and will provide reduced-price Internet services, albeit as a much slower speed of 1.5 mbps. Spokesman Mark Molzen said it starts at $9.95 a month, but only for the first year; after that it goes up to $14.95 a month for the next five years.

But that may be the only choice for some, given that Cox does not reach many areas of the state.

Separately, ArizonaOn is working to make some low-cost desktop computers available to those in need.