FCC to Consider Mobile Hot Spot Program for Low-Income Learners

Schools and libraries would lend out Wi-Fi hot spots to users who don’t have internet access at home.

A mobile wireless internet hot spot sits on a desk among piles of books at the Free Public Library in New York City on Jan. 10, 2015. Verena Dobnik/AP Photo

Now that the Affordable Connectivity Program is insolvent, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is pitching another way to provide internet service to low-income students when school is out: Let them “borrow” Wi-Fi hot spots from public schools and libraries.

The FCC will vote on the proposal at its July 18 meeting.