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We understand that some students and faculty may have challenges accessing the Internet from their homes and may not always be able to get to areas with Wi-Fi. We suggest some of the following options.
The FCC has asked companies to work with Americans impacted by COVID-19 to help provide them with Internet access. Students and faculty may be able to access free Internet through service providers available in their area. Companies are also pledging to keep public Wi-Fi hot-spots open for any American who needs them. Additionally, some cell phone companies are extending unlimited data plans to existing customers for no additional charge. Restaurants, coffee shops, public libraries, etc. may have available high-speed Internet that you can access from isolation in your car or from outdoor patios even if they are closed. Do some research, ask around, and call service providers in your area and ask for help.
More information:
FCC agreement stating that providers will waive late fees, not cutoff service for lack of payment, and open hot-spots.
Comcast COVID-19 response: offers free Wi-Fi for 2 months to low income families plus all Xfinity hot-spots are free to the public during this time.
Charter Free Internet Offer for 2 Months: Charter will open its Wi-Fi hotspots across our footprint for public use and will offer free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription and at any service level up to 100 Mbps.
Charter will open its Wi-Fi hotspots across our footprint for public use.
AT&T COVID-19 response: offers open hot-spots, unlimited data to existing customers, and $10/month plans to low income families.
Verizon COVID-19 response: no special offers, but following the FCC agreement.
Sprint COVID-19 response: follows FCC agreement, provides unlimited data to existing customers, and, starting Tuesday, 3/17/2020, will allow all handsets to enable hot-spots for 60 days at no extra charge.
T-Mobile COVID-19 response: follows FCC agreement, plus unlimited data to existing customers, and, coming soon, will allow all handsets to enable hot-spots for 60 days at no extra charge.
Phone hot-spot: If you have a cell phone and data plan with Internet access, in some instances, your phone can be used as a hot-spot to share data with other devices such as a desktop, laptop, or iPad. See here (iPhone), here (Android), and here (tethering).
USG Institutions: Consider developing campus Wi-Fi “Parking Lot Hot-Spots” for students and faculty with broadband connectivity issues. To help mitigate low bandwidth/access issues, consider designating “Parking Lot Hot-Spots” in one or more locations on the campus. Similar to designated cell phone parking lots at airports, these would be zones where students and faculty can come to campus, park their cars, and access campus-based high-speed broadband, in isolation, in their own automobiles. This will necessitate a strong outdoor Wi-Fi signal. Leadership and ITS should consider easy guest network access as well, in case their campus may be the closest location for students or faculty from another USG institution.
FREE Wi-Fi at a public library: This is a map of the Wi-Fi available at all library parking lots around the state of Georgia: https://georgialibraries.org/library-everywhere/
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