How many households in NC may receive the FCC Emergency Broadband Benefit?

The Verge recently published a county-by-county look at the broadband gap, showing counties across the country where less than 15 percent of households are using the internet at broadband speeds (25 Mbps or above.) In NC, 20 of our 100 counties meet this definition of “low broadband.”

A new program from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is trying to fill that gap. In late February, the FCC announced that they were launching a new Emergency Broadband Benefit to help households struggling to pay for internet services during the pandemic.

The program, which launched May 12, provides “a discount of up to $50 per month towards broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on Tribal lands. Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute $10-$50 toward the purchase price.”

A household is eligible if one member of the household:

• Has an income at or below 135% of the federal poverty guidelines or participates in certain assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid, or Lifeline;
• Receives benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision, or did so in the 2019-2020 school year;
• Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year;
• Experienced a substantial loss of income since February 29, 2020 and the household had a total income in 2020 below $99,000 for single filers and $198,000 for joint filers; or
• Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating providers’ existing low-income or COVID-19 program.

We wanted to know: How does broadband access vary across North Carolina and many households may be eligible for this federal broadband benefit in North Carolina?

Broadband access

Access to broadband varies widely across the state. Statewide, 80.0% of households report having broadband at home. The counties with the lowest access to broadband are Northampton (51.8%), Hyde (56.4%), and Graham (56.7%). The counties with the highest access to broadband are Wake (91.0%), Union (90.4%), and Dare (90.3%). No access to broadband includes households that currently use dial-up, households that don’t report an Internet subscription but have access to a computer, and households that don’t have a computer.

Dial-up access

There are thousands of homes across North Carolina that have dial-up Internet access. This is important for healthcare providers, public services like health departments and libraries, and online news sites to understand. Homes in these areas may benefit from options to turn off images or load low bandwidth versions of websites. The counties with the greater number of dial-up users are Wake (845 households), Mecklenburg (561), and Forsyth (452). The counties with the highest share of dial-up users are Hyde (2.4%), Jones (1.5%), and Stokes (1.4%).

Who qualifies for the broadband benefit?

We can now look at the criteria for eligibility to determine how many people in North Carolina may be eligible for the broadband benefit.

A household is eligible if one member of the household qualifies for the Lifeline program. Lifeline qualifications are as follows:

“To participate in the Lifeline program, consumers must either have an income that is at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or participate in certain federal assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, Supplemental Security Income, the Veterans and Survivors Pension Benefit, or certain Tribal Programs. You can see if you are eligible by reviewing the information available at lifelinesupport.org (click “Do I Qualify?”).”

Under 125% FPL

The American Community Survey gives us the number of individuals in each county with family incomes at or below 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. To participate in Lifeline, participants must have an income that is at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, so this estimate of people will be slightly lower than the number of eligible individuals.

A total of 2,447,468 individuals in North Carolina have an income that is at or below 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (24.5%). The counties with the highest percentages of income-eligible participants are Robeson (42.5%), Halifax (39.9%), and Richmond (39.4%). The counties with the lowest share of income-eligible individuals are Union (15.2%), Wake (15.5%), and Currituck (16.8%).

Public assistance or SNAP recipients

A total of 515,307 households receive public assistance or SNAP benefits in North Carolina (13.0%). Total households receiving public assistance or SNAP are highest in Robeson (28.8%), Halifax (28.8%), and Edgecombe (28.3%). These rates are lowest in Wake (6.5%), Orange (6.7%), and Watauga (7.3%).

Receives benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision, or did so in the 2019-2020 school year

More than 800,000 children across North Carolina are eligible for free or reduced lunch. In the 2018-19 school year, 58.6% of students received lunch at a free or reduced price, according to data from NC Child. (The calculation excludes charter schools.) There were 933 schools that fell under the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) in 2020, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

North Carolina CEP Schools, 2020

Children who are members of households that are eligible to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits or Cash Assistance (CA) are automatically eligible for free meals. In addition, foster children that are the legal responsibility of a social services agency or court are considered categorically eligible for free meal benefits regardless of the income of the household with whom they reside.  Household size and income criteria are used to determine eligibility.

Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year

A total of 122,213 people in NC were eligible for Pell Grants  during the 2017-18 award year. (U.S. Department of Education.)

Distribution of Pell Grants to NC Institutions, 2017-18

Experienced a substantial loss of income since February 29, 2020 and the household had a total income in 2020 below $99,000 for single filers and $198,000 for joint filers

There is no data available to calculate the number of households in this category.

Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating providers’ existing low-income or COVID-19 program

We cannot calculate the following criteria without knowing income thresholds.

Why this is important

Knowing where households may be eligible for this benefit can help social services organizations, libraries, and other public services across the state focus resources and communication strategies for households.

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Categories: NC in Focus