Low Take Rates for Subsidized Home Broadband?

Apparently just over one percent of U.K. households take advantage of a home broadband for low-income residents program. Such programs seem to be widely available, but take rates are quite low. 

 In the United States, up to 45 percent of California households appear to qualify for subsidized home broadband programs and 27 percent of those households do so. In Colorado some 20 percent of eligible households appear to take advantage. 

But some observers believe the current program will expire before reaching take rates of 68 percent nationally. 

It is not clear whether participants were “unconnected” before or were already buying internet access. Supporters sometimes count all the participants as having not had internet access prior to joining the program, and that is not likely. The program provides a $30 discount off any published plan. 

Existing ISP programs had routinely offered low-cost access at speeds lower than 100 Mbps. The Affordable Connectivity Plan offers subsidies for 100-Mbps at no cost to qualifying households.  

But there are many reasons why some households choose not to purchase  internet access because they do not want to use the internet or do not need home broadband because they use the internet in other ways, such as by mobile phone, or get access at other locations.