Today we are announcing the next step in our industry’s longstanding commitment to use our technologies to improve education in America. We’re proposing a two-year public-private pilot program called Adoption Plus (A+) which could bring broadband to millions of children in low-income households.

Twenty years ago, our industry founded Cable in the Classroom (CIC), which over the past decade has brought free broadband service to thousands of schools and community libraries.

In recent years, our industry has also focused on the digital divide and how to promote broadband adoption.  Cox Communications, for example, has participated in a widely praised program in Santa Barbara, California, in which it provides discounted broadband service to children who participate in the National School Lunch program, together with partners who provide discounted or free computers.

Even though broadband is available to more than 90% of the households in the United States, almost one-third of those households don’t take the service.  Why?  Well, recent studies by the Pew Research Center demonstrate there is no single reason, and some of the multiple reasons – such as understanding the relevance of broadband, digital literacy, computer ownership, and affordability – likely overlap.

Several months ago, with the strong encouragement of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, we started working with the FCC’s broadband team to explore how we might help.  They were critical to helping with the data necessary to determine how to really focus in on a concept that could provide the maximum benefit.  Chairman Genachowski and Blair Levin, Executive Director of the FCC’s Omnibus Broadband Initiative, were very supportive of developing a proposal that would help low-income households that do not currently receive broadband.

The A+ pilot program builds on the experience of Cox Communications’ Santa Barbara initiative, by proposing a two-year, public-private partnership designed to promote sustainable broadband adoption for a vitally important-but-vulnerable population – middle school-aged children in low income households that do not currently receive broadband service.  The program is called Adoption Plus because it is a comprehensive approach that treats broadband adoption as a multi-faceted problem that requires multi-faceted solutions.  Barriers to adoption – e.g., relevance, digital literacy, computer ownership, affordability – are interwoven and cannot be resolved in isolation.

The goal of the A+ program is to help give millions of students the opportunity to become digital citizens of the 21st Century by driving sustainable broadband adoption and positively and materially affecting educational outcomes.

Here is how it would work (a more detailed summary can be found at NCTA’s website):

• A+ would promote the adoption of broadband service to households that do not currently receive it, by offering comprehensive digital media literacy education, discounted computers, and discounted home broadband service to households representing up to 3.5 million American children in grades 6 through 9 who are eligible to receive a free or reduced-cost meal through the National School Lunch Program.
• We propose that school districts administer the program, apply for federal funding, and partner with non-profit corporations promoting digital media literacy, computer manufacturers and/or retailers, and cable and other broadband Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
• Perhaps the most important role of the school districts is to implement digital media literacy programs, including online safety training, and training on how to use computers and broadband.  Including administration costs, we recommend that $100 million of federal funding be used for school districts which apply to set up an A+ program.
• We also anticipate that computer manufacturers would supply discounted computers as partners in A+, but ask the government to consider whether and to what extent federal funding is appropriate to help further discount the cost of computers.
• For each eligible household, participating ISPs would provide free installation of broadband service; a 50 percent discount off the monthly subscription cost of their entry level broadband service; and a 50 percent discount off the cost of modem equipment, whether purchased or rented.
• It is important to note that, while we recommend federal funding for digital media literacy training and administration of this program by school districts, we are not seeking any government funding of the ISPs’ contribution to A+.

While the A+ program is open to other broadband ISPs who wish to participate, so far, all of the cable ISPs represented on NCTA’s Board of Directors have agreed to participate in the A+ program as outlined above.  Those companies also have committed to air public service announcements explaining and promoting local A+ programs.  We estimate the value of the cable ISP contribution to the A+ program, with full student participation, at well over $500 million.

Our industry will continue to creatively harness the power of technology, including broadband, for educational purposes in other ways as well.

For example, A&E Television Networks, through HISTORY, has partnered with more than a dozen major cable operators around the country in creating Take a Veteran to School Day, where veterans are welcomed into local schools for special assemblies and oral history projects – a program that was recognized by President Obama at the White House just a few weeks ago.  And Viacom has partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in the Get Schooled initiative to identify effective approaches to increase high school and college graduation rates, improve post secondary readiness and promote the fundamental importance of education.

With the nation’s new emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, major cable companies have stepped up with new commitments, such as the $100 million Connect a Million Minds initiative launched in November by Time Warner Cable, to introduce young people to opportunities and resources that inspire them to develop the STEM skills that will help solve our economic, environmental, and community challenges of the future. Discovery Communications is supporting STEM education by offering a commercial-free programming block for middle schoolers on the Science Channel, and through Discovery Education, which will provide STEM Connect, a new broadband delivered curriculum-based career development resource helping students link their science, math, engineering and technology education to their future careers. President Obama recently recognized both Time Warner Cable and Discovery in a White House announcement on STEM initiatives.    Earlier this year, Comcast teamed with One Economy to launch the Comcast Digital Connectors program in more than 20 markets nationwide, an initiative designed to teach broadband technologies to young people ages 14-21 from diverse, low-income backgrounds, who then put that knowledge to work in their local communities.

And Cablevision offers teachers important tools for using broadband and interactive technology as part of its Power to Learn program.

There are many other examples of creative initiatives that recognize how broadband can positively affect education of America’s children.  What they have in common is an understanding that partnerships and collaboration among interested stakeholders is required for success.  A+ is an ambitious step forward in this tradition, and we look forward to working with interested government agencies and other stakeholders to make it a reality.