Emergency Broadband Benefit

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

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.

A household is eligible if one member of the household:

• Qualifies for the Lifeline program;
• Receives benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision, or did so in the 2019-2020 school year;
• Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year;
• Experienced a substantial loss of income since February 29, 2020.

No, the Emergency Broadband Benefit provides a monthly discount on broadband service of up to $50 per eligible household. Watch Communications will receive the funds directly from the Emergency Broadband Benefit program and apply it to your account.

Yes, eligible consumers with a past due balance or a balance in collections are eligible for the benefit.

Yes, the benefit is available to eligible new, prior and existing customers of participating providers.

Yes. If you qualify for the Emergency Broadband Benefit, talk to your property manager/landlord and ask that they work with their broadband service provider to learn more about the benefits that might be available to you and other eligible residents.

The Emergency Broadband Benefit is limited to one monthly service discount per household, which is defined as any individual or group of individuals who are living together at the same address and share income and expenses

You may be able to do so. Talk to your provider about the plans they have available as part of the Emergency Broadband Benefit program.

Yes. You are responsible for any amount over $50 per month for broadband service under the Emergency Broadband Benefit.

The Emergency Broadband Benefit can be applied to the cost of a bundle of services that include broadband, voice, texting and/or associated equipment. If your bundle also includes a TV service, you will be responsible for that portion of your bill, as well as any services that are above the monthly discount.

Yes. The monthly discount can be used to cover routers, modems, hotspot devices, and antennas, if offered as monthly rental costs in addition to your broadband service cost.

Participating broadband service providers can be reimbursed up to $100 if they supply a connected device to a household, as long as the household pays more than $10 but less than $50 for the device. In other words, to take advantage of this benefit, it must be done through your participating broadband provider, and you must contribute a portion of the cost. The device benefit is limited to a laptop, a desktop computer, or a tablet.  It does not include cell phones, large phones, or “phablets” that can make cellular calls.

No.  Each household is limited to a single device discount.

Go here to determine if you are eligible for the program. If you are eligible, follow the links on that page to complete your application. https://getemergencybroadband.org/

Yes! The $50 per month discount provided through the Emergency Broadband Benefit can be applied to all of Watch’s residential Internet plans. This is a great time to upgrade if you or your family needs more bandwidth or wants to increase your connection speed.