KEITH ELLISON 1123 CHiEF DEPUTY WHIP
5TH DISTRICT. MINNESOTA CO-CHAIR CONGRESSIONAL
PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS
2263 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHiNGTON, DC 20515
(202) 225-4755
CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55411
(612) 522-1212
ellison.house.gov
TWITTER: ~keithellison
October 23, 2015
Chairman Thomas E. Wheeler
Federal Communications Conunission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Chairman Wheeler:
Iam writing to urge the FCC to work with Mobile Citizen and Mobile Beacon to prevent
the loss of affordable internet service for thousands of Americans. Since 2010, these companies
have offered internet access to schools, libraries. and nonprofits in need via an EBS Spectrum
leasing agreement with Sprint. This partnership has given over 300,000 Americans acces to
affordable Internet. including 429 schools, 61 libraries, and 1,820 nonprofit organizations. In
April 2014, Sprint informed these partners that its subsidiary, Clearwire, would be migrating
subscribers from its Wimax network to LTE on November 6th 2015, leaving thousands of adults
and children in the Twin Cities metro area alone without affordable access to the Internet.
Two affected organizations in my district. th 5111 Congressional Disttict of Minnesota,
include the Project for Pride and Living (PPL) and PCs for Change. PPL serves 1,200 families
and relies on mobile Internet from Mobile Citizen to run its programs that help adults secure
employment and youth complete homework assignments. pes for People, a digital inclusion
organization. provides computers to families and has connected over 14,000 households to the
Internet since the beginning of their partnership with Mobile Citizen and Mobile Beacon. Nearly
11,000 individuals in my district are losing this source of affordable access to the Internet.
All Americans deserve equal Intemet access and are more likely to succeed if they are
connected and engaged. I urge the Federal Communications Commission to work with Mobile
Citizen and Mobile Beacon to address this issue.
Sincerely,
KEITH ELLISON
Member of Congress
FRIt TED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Cc: Commissioner Mignon Clyburn
Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel
Commissioner Ajit Pai
Commissioner Michael O'Rielly
~ «»mobilecitizen mobilegeacon.
a voqai initiative 4G Internet Access. 4 Nonprofits. 4 Less.
Mr. Marcelo Claure
Chief Executive Officer
Sprint Corporation
6200 Sprint Parkway
Overland Park, KS 66251
CC: Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank
Chairman Tom Wheeler, Federal Communications Commission
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, Federal Communications Commission
Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, Federal Communications Commission
Commissioner Ajit Pai, Federal Communications Commission
Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, Federal Communications Commission
R. David Edelman, Special Assistant to the President for Economic and Technology Policy
Vonya McCann, Sprint Government Affairs
Doug Michelman, Sprint Corporate Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility
Re: Sprint's plan to shut off more than 300,000 vulnerable Americans' Internet access
October 20, 2015
Dear Mr. Claure,
You have said you are committed to "empowering young people with education and technology
so they can change their lives and change the world for the better."
But on November 6, 2015, as it updates its network, the Sprint Corporation will shut off Internet
access to hundreds of thousands of children in underserved communities across the country.
Among those who will be disconnected are 429 schools, 61 libraries and 1,820 nonprofit
organizations.
This is unacceptable and not in line with the principles you have professed publicly throughout
your career.
Since 2010, Mobile Citizen and Mobile Beacon have offered affordable Internet access to
schools, libraries and nonprofits in need via a partnership with CLEAR, now Sprint. This
partnership has helped more than 300,000 Americans - children in schools serving our
country's most vulnerable youth, moms who count pennies for groceries, seniors struggling to
get access to essential health care information. Sprint's plan to shut down this network will leave
these Americans in the dark.
As Chief Executive Officer, you have the power to stop this injustice and keep hundreds of
thousands of children, families and community members online, preserving their access to the
Internet and the American dream.
We call on Sprint to ensure that more than 300,000 Americans will have uninterrupted access to
affordable, unlimited Internet through Mobile Citizen and Mobile Beacon's network. America is
strongest when those in need have access to the technology that builds an educated,
empowered and engaged public.
Signed:
Academia America
Ashbury Community Services
Build.org
Burton School District
California Connect
Center for Media Justice and Media Action Grassroots Network
Center for Rural Strategies
Central New York Library Resources Council
Colorado Telehealth Network
ColorOfChange.org
Common Cause
Community Technology Network
Connect Your Community
COSN, the Consortium for School Networking
Demand Progress Action
Fight for the Future I Center for Rights in Action, Inc
Florida Institute of Technology
Free Press
Habitat for Humanity
Jump Wireless
Library Board of RI
Media Mobilizing Project
National Coalition for Adult Literacy
National People's Action Campaign
New Media Ventures