Verizon Forces Users Onto Pricier Plans To Get $50-Per-Month Government Subsidy

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Verizon and other Internet service providers are preventing some low-income customers from getting new $50-per-month government subsidies unless they switch to different plans that are sometimes more expensive. Over 825 ISPs nationwide are selling plans eligible for the new subsidies that the US government made available to people who have low incomes or who lost income during the pandemic. Verizon stands out among big ISPs in its use of the subsidy to 'upsell' customers to pricier plans, according to a story yesterday by Washington Post tech columnist Geoffrey Fowler.

'Soon after the EBB [Emergency broadband Benefit program] launched, I started hearing from Washington Post readers about their frustrations signing up with certain ISPs,' he wrote. 'Verizon elicited the most ire from readers.' Instead of letting people enroll online, Verizon requires them to call a phone number to sign up and then 'tells some customers the EBB can't be used on 'old' data plans, so they'll have to switch,' the Post article said. Verizon is limiting the plans available on both mobile and home Internet service. The EBB is temporary, lasting until the $3.2 billion in program funding runs out or six months after the Department of Health and Human Services declares an end to the pandemic. Verizon customers who have to switch to a more expensive plan in order to get the $50 monthly discount would have to pay the higher rate after the subsidy expires.

'At the end of the program, you will either continue on your plan at the price without the EBB discount or you will end your Internet-related services with Verizon,' a company FAQ says. 'We will give you an opportunity to decide this at the beginning of your enrollment into the EBB program and again before the end of the program. If you do not affirmatively choose to keep your Internet-related services, the FCC requires that we disconnect those services at the end of the EBB program.' Verizon defended its implementation of the subsidy program yesterday, saying it has enrolled nearly 1,000 customers in less than a week. But that's just an average, and yesterday's Washington Post story makes clear that some customers would have to switch to more expensive plans to get the subsidy. Earlier today, the FCC said that more than one million U.S. households have signed up to take part in the broadband subsidy program, which is being accepted at over 900 broadband providers. Some providers estimate the program could run out of money in four to six months.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.