Cricket Communications, announced the filing of an application for federal Recovery Act 
funding, in partnership with One Economy
Corporation. The grant proposal would extend Project Change Access - an
innovative program for affordable wireless broadband service - to
low-income residents in Baltimore, Houston, Memphis,
San Diego and Washington, D.C.
The proposal to the
Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information
Administration for a Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP)
grant would build on the success of Project Change Access, launched in
Portland, Ore., last fall as a pilot program by LCW Wireless and One
Economy. LCW Wireless, a company in which Cricket owns a
non-controlling interest, offers Cricket(r) unlimited service in Oregon
markets. One Economy is a global non-profit organization that leverages
the power of technology and information to connect low-income people to
the economic mainstream.
Through a scalable "end to end"
approach, Project Change Access would furnish subsidized, low-cost
wireless broadband via Cricket's high-quality, all-digital 3G wireless
network and a wireless device designed to work with both desktops and
laptops.
One Economy would provide specialized sustainability
programs that include personal technology tutoring via its "Digital
Connectors," a national youth corps that receives leading-edge
technology training and extends the benefits by providing service to
their communities.
One Economy would also provide targeted and
localized content for education, employment, and health care through
its multiple online portals.
Project Change
Access is designed to help bridge the digital divide for low-income
households that lack meaningful broadband alternatives because - even
when high-speed network coverage is available - it is not always
affordable to low income households. In 2009, the Pew Internet &
American Life Project reported 35 percent of households with annual
income of $20,000 or less had adopted broadband, compared to 63 percent
nationwide.
"As we have seen in the results of the Portland
pilot of Project Change Access, universal broadband is the key to
economic revitalization in low-income communities that need growth in
businesses and jobs the most," said Dave Maquera, vice president,
strategy at Leap. "Cricket remains committed to bringing the benefits
of wireless and mobile broadband to everyone, including low-income
families who deserve the benefits of digital innovation that online
access brings."
Rey Ramsey, Chief Executive Officer of One
Economy, said: "Our partnership with Cricket will open new
opportunities through the powerful tool of broadband and provide people
with the resources to access the information they need to make
productive decisions about their own lives. Our approach is designed to
create a culture of use to ensure those benefits are meaningful and
sustainable."