Wilson Tackles Digital Divide with Pay Ahead Option Community Broadband Bits Podcast 291

Published: Jan. 31, 2018, 5:55 p.m.

b"It was just a year ago that we highlighted a nation-leading digital inclusion effort from Wilson's Greenlight municipal fiber network in North Carolina. That was their fourth time on the podcast, owing to the many ways Wilson has developed in ensuring its fiber network investment is benefiting the community. See also podcast episodes 171, 110, and 70.\\xa0Will Aycock, General Manager of Greenlight Community Broadband, is back once again to discuss another new program they have developed - a new billing option that unlocks broadband access particularly among low-income households with low credit ratings.\\xa0Greenlight has developed a pay-ahead option that allows households to pay ahead of connections so their lack of credit will not deter them from accessing the Internet service they may need for education, work, or other uses. It also allows households to more easily pay down past debts - an important approach in dealing with the financial reality of low-income households. We hope to see more municipal networks developing billing options like this to ensure everyone can have the connections they need.Though we focus on that billing approach in our interview, don't miss the recent developments in Wilson's ongoing efforts to share the benefits of its network with its neighboring communities, many of whom do not have broadband access.\\xa0This show is 15 minutes long and can be played on this page or\\xa0via iTunes\\xa0or the tool of your choice\\xa0using this feed.Read the transcript for this show here.You can download this mp3 file directly from here. Listen to\\xa0other episodes here\\xa0or view all episodes\\xa0in our index.Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is\\xa0Warm Duck Shuffle\\xa0and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license."