The Internet is a blessing to many a school-aged kid trying to get through the night’s homework assignment, but what if your home has no Internet access? It happens all too often in poorer neighborhoods, but Sprint’s new initiative will provide 1 million high school students with free devices and wireless connections.
The 1Million Project is a multi-year plan to connect low-income US high school students lacking a reliable source of Internet access at home. The pilot program is set to launch in January in seven to 10 markets, where students will receive a free smartphone, tablet, laptop, or hotspot device and 3GB of high-speed LTE data per month—for up to four years.
A refined version will roll out nationwide for the start of the 2017-18 school year.
“Education is the foundation of our society to prosper, and the Internet is an incredibly powerful tool for learning,” Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure said in a statement. “But it’s a huge problem in America that we have 5 million households with children that lack Internet connections. Those kids have a huge disadvantage and we are failing them.”
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