Redemtech to Help Low-Income Families with FCC Connect to Compete Initiative

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today launched a $4-billion program to make computers more affordable for more than 25 million mainly low-income Americans while narrowing the digital divide. According to USA Today, Redemtech is playing a key role in the FCC Connect to Compete initiative by offering $150 laptop and desktop computers with monitors in support of the program. Redemtech's Red Rabbitt® PCs will be specially designed for first-time users and include preloaded educational and careers content as part of the national effort to boost education and employment.

The issue of the digital divide has been important to Redemtech for a long time and precipitated the company’s ongoing efforts to provide Red Rabbitt IT equipment to qualifying Habitat for Humanity families across the U.S. These donations illustrate a commitment to helping people live and work better in an increasingly high-tech world where broadband access is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for achieving educational and career objectives.

According to the abundant news coverage of today’s FCC announcement, such as that which appeared in this morning’s Washington Post, the  program will provide low-income homes with $150 computers and $10 monthly broadband Internet service. “The plan aims to solve one of the more vexing problems in the government’s quest to connect all Americans to the Internet,” according to the Post.

Similarly, Reuters noted that eligible families will be able to sign up for the program during a three-year window starting early in 2012 in some areas, with the offer going nationwide by next September to coincide with the 2012-2013 school year.

In its coverage, the Los Angeles Times quoted FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski as saying, "We're at a time of real challenge in the economy, and broadband access is becoming increasingly vital to participating in it.” Since the program is aimed at providing qualifying residents with greater access to both professional and educational opportunities while expanding consumer demand for the online marketplace, the effort should stimulate the U.S. economy as well, Genachowski said.

“The cost of not adopting broadband, the cost of exclusion is high and getting higher,” Genachowski said in a telephone interview reported in another Washington Post article.

Redemtech launched its Red Rabbitt brand of refurbished computers and accessories in 2009 and has earned a reputation for supplying charitable organizations with high-quality IT equipment as part of a larger strategy to extend the lifecycles of equipment. As a vital part of the new FCC initiative, Redemtech is pleased that equipment that might otherwise have had a less successful end is instead making a difference in Americans’ lives.

Click here to learn more about Redemtech and the FCC Connect to Compete program.