Albany, NY – May 4, 2021 – FirstLight, a leading provider of fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud, and voice services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, announced today that eligible ILEC customers who have had difficulty paying for Internet service as a result of the pandemic can begin applying for assistance through the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Broadband Benefit program starting May 12th.
According to a recent announcement by the FCC, consumers can apply for the program through the National Verifier by visiting www.GetEmergencyBroadband.org starting May 12th.
Through its ILEC, FirstLight serves residential customers based in Maine. Earlier this year, FirstLight announced it would participate in the program and provide a discount of up to $50 a month towards broadband service for eligible Maine households and up to $75 per month for Maine households on tribal lands during the program period.
A household is eligible if one member of the household:
- Qualifies for the Lifeline program;
- 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 provider’s existing low-income or COVID-19 program.
This program is temporary and will end when the funds are exhausted or six months after the Department of Health and Human Services declares the end of the COVID 19 health emergency, whichever happens first.
For more info about the program, visit https://www.fcc.gov/emergency-broadband-benefit-program. For FirstLight customers interested in eligibility and program details, visit www.firstlight.net/EBB.
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