BATON ROUGE, La (BRPROUD) – Millions of school children lack internet access at home, a problem that heavily affects underserved communities.
“In 2021 you must have internet, there is a gap in communication, so Covid really exposed and took the covers off,” said business consultant Stefan Jordan.
Funded by the FCC, Phoenix Marketing is providing qualifying households the opportunity to receive free tablets and lower internet costs. For those who qualify, the internet service is provided by EarthLink and dispatched to your home by AT&T.
“Once we’ve verified that they’ve qualified, then we go into Earthlink’s tool and we process the order and put their emergency broadband discount on that,” said the CEO of Phoenix Marketing, Marcel Miner.
To take it a step further, CEO & Founder of SLT Technology Calvin Mills is looking to offer IT certifications to students in the EBR school system and providing students who maybe aren’t college-bound a pathway into careers in cybersecurity.
“Our state wants to put people to work, they want people to find careers that are sustainable for them, cybersecurity pays upwards of six figures,” said Mills.
This opportunity is federally funded by the Federal Communications Commission and a part of their Emergency Broadband (EBB) initiative. Phoenix Marketing in partnership with EarthLink is providing this opportunity to break the digital divide in East Baton Rouge Parish.
If you are a recipient of any of the programs below you qualify to be a recipient of either subsidized internet service or a free tablet. Click here to see what paperwork is needed. You may also call 855-288-8326 to participate.
Qualifying Programs
- Medicaid
- SNAP
- SSI
- Section 8
- Veterans Pension
- Income Level
