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AT&T to provide free Internet to the poor
(San Antonio Express-News (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jun. 15--San Antonio-based AT&T Inc. and its philanthropic arm, the AT&T Foundation, said Wednesday they will launch a three-year, $100 million program to provide Internet access to low-income families.
The project, in cooperation with Habitat for Humanity and other nonprofit groups, comes as the telecommunications giant asks regulators to approve its $67 billion merger with BellSouth Corp. and lawmakers to pass legislation that would make it easier for the company to offer cablelike video services.
AT&T CEO Edward Whitacre announced the company's AccessAll initiative in a speech at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition's 35th annual conference in Chicago.
He told the civil rights group that the company would also boost by $250 million its spending with businesses owned by minorities, women and disabled veterans -- provided its merger with BellSouth closes.
On the AccessAll initiative, "We think that having in-home access to technology and the Internet is extremely meaningful and beneficial for families," said Laura Sanford, AT&T Foundation's president. "It puts children in those households on a level playing field with their classroom peers." What's more, Sanford said, adults increasingly need Internet access to search for jobs, day care and other essentials.
AT&T will provide subsidized computer equipment and two years of free Internet access to 15,000 Habitat for Humanity households. It will provide two years of free Internet access to an additional 35,000 households.
AT&T volunteers will provide computer training for program participants. One Economy Corp., a nonprofit group that brings technology to the poor, will provide additional funding for the effort.
To date, the AT&T Foundation has invested about $83 million in programs that bring technology to low-income and underserved areas.
Although AT&T's announcement comes as it tries to win merger approval and favorable legislation, Sanford said it wasn't timed to win favor with Washington. The company has been working on the AccessAll initiative since last year.
"We think this is the largest initiative to bring the Internet and technology directly into low-income households," she said.
Members of the Federal Communications Commission are unlikely to be swayed to support or reject a merger based on the charitable efforts of one of its participants, said Ben Silverman, telecom analyst for FindProfit.com. However, the timing doesn't hurt AT&T.
Critics of legislation that would let AT&T forge into the video business more quickly have said it would let the company bypass low-income areas with its service, a claim the company denies.
"I think there's probably a little bit of politics involved anytime a company puts money back into the community," Silverman said.
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