Viya EBB FAQs

The Federal Communications Commission voted to formally establish the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, a $3.2 billion federal effort to provide discounts on internet service and equipment to many low-income households. Eligible families will get up to $50 per month to help defray the cost of decent
broadband and $100 toward a computer.

Eligible households can get a discount of up to $50 per month on internet service ($75 per month for those living on tribal lands). The discount also applies to modem/router fees. In addition, the program offers a one-time discount of up to $100 toward the purchase of a laptop, desktop, or tablet from participating providers.

While you can get the discount with internet plans bundled with phone services, but bundling TV service is not eligible.

Viya owns and operates the fiber to the curve network that delivers our Viya’s 1Gig service. 

You’re eligible if your household meets any one of these criteria:

• You qualify for the existing Lifeline program.
• You receive benefits under a free and reduced-price school lunch program or school breakfast program.
• You lost your job or experienced a substantial loss of income since Feb. 29, 2020.
• You’re a student who receives a federal Pell Grant.

Viya participates in the program, but not all internet service providers (ISPs) will be participating in the program. The FCC is maintaining a web page where consumers can check to see whether their internet provider has signed on. Go to this webpage, www.fcc.gov/emergency-broadband-benefit-providers.

The FCC says the program is not yet open to consumers but will be within the next few weeks. Once it’s in place, you can apply through your ISP or directly with the USAC, which administers the Lifeline program. “We are working to build out systems that allow for multiple ways to apply for the benefit for
eligible households,” an FCC spokesperson told us via email.

Viya will verify that you qualify through a database administered by the FCC. A participating provider can also use an alternate verification process, provided it’s approved by the FCC. A school must verify the eligibility of a household based on the participation in the free and reduced-price lunch program or the
school breakfast program.

Viya will offer discounted rates to their customers and get reimbursed by the FCC from the program’s funds.

The program’s rules stipulate that the discount will expire either when the money in the fund runs out or six months after the secretary of Health and Human Services declares the end of the COVID-19 health emergency.

To help families avoid sticker shock when the first bill without the discount arrives, the FCC says there will notifications about the funding status of the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, with warnings at the start of the program and as the funding is projected to be depleted. More information about warnings will be released in the coming weeks.

The Emergency Broadband Benefit is an emergency program developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will end once the program funds are exhausted, or six months after the Department of Health and Human Services declares an end to the pandemic, whichever comes first.

Your participating provider must give you notice about the last date or billing cycle that the full benefit will apply to your bill and the date or billing cycle that a partial benefit will apply to your bill, in addition to information about the cost of your broadband service after the program ends.

The end of the program may not be timed to your billing cycle for service. This may result in you receiving less than the full monthly service discount in the final month of the program. In the event that you might receive a partial benefit in the last month of the program, your participating provider must receive your permission before they can charge you an amount higher than what you would pay if the full Emergency Broadband Benefit is applied to your broadband bill. In other words, if you were receiving a $50 discount off of your broadband bill, but based on the available funds in the program, there is only enough to provide you with a $40 discount, your provider must have your permission to charge you the additional $10.

Households will need to opt-in or request to continue broadband services with their provider. If you don’t opt-in or select a new service plan with your provider, your broadband service will end once the program ends. Even if you had service with the same provider before enrolling in the Emergency Broadband Benefit, you will need to opt-in to continue broadband services after the program ends.

Yes, if you agree to continue receiving service from your provider.

The program has been authorized by the FCC, but the start date has not yet been established. The FCC is working to make the benefit available as quickly as possible, and you should be able to sign up by the end of April, 2021. Please check our website, www.fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit, regularly for the latest
information.

No, the Emergency Broadband Benefit provides a monthly discount on broadband service of up to $50 per eligible household (or up to $75 per eligible household on Tribal lands). The participating broadband service provider will receive the funds directly from the Emergency Broadband Benefit program.