1M Devices And Internet Accounts To Be Given Away By Sprint

Sprint just announced that it would make a major donation amounting to one million internet devices and accounts to underprivileged American children. According to the company, this is a move designed to heal what’s called the “digital divide” where families that don’t have easy access to the internet are severely disadvantaged compared to those that do.

According to Fortune, there are over five million American households right now that don’t have internet access in their homes. This makes things like homework and doing research for school a challenge, at least compared to other children who do have access to the internet. By donating various devices as well as internet accounts to these kids, Sprint aims to provide underprivileged students the chance to keep up in the digital age.

Among the devices that will be distributed include laptops and tablets for High School students, along with smartphones and pocket Wi-Fi units. Which is given to who will depend on the need, but anyone getting the internet hotspot devices will be getting free 3GB of data a month.

Sprint will also be working with various charity organizations in order to identify candidates fit for the program. These include EveryoneOn and My Brother’s Keep Alliance. Once recipients have been identified, the organizations will then help to distribute the devices as needed.

On that note, the most likely device to be given away would be smartphones. As PC Mag notes, a Pew Research Center data indicates higher smartphone dependency for internet access in low-income households as opposed to wired internet. For households that have an annual income of less than $30,000, over 13 percent are using their smartphones in order to go online. This is where the 3GB of free monthly data will come in very handy as well since data can be costly for those who don’t have access to unlimited Wi-Fi at home.