The spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, has led to a wave of event cancellations and, in just the past week, a more drastic series of responses from the federal government and municipalities throughout the country. “Specifically, we ask that you temporarily suspend broadband caps and associated fees or throttling for all communities affected by COVID-19 and work with public school districts, colleges, and universities to provide free, or at-cost, broadband options for students whose schools close due to COVID-19 who don’t have access at home.” “As organizations around the country formulate their responses to the recent outbreak and spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, we write to discuss the steps that your company is taking to accommodate the unprecedented reliance we will likely see on telepresence services, including telework, online education, telehealth, and remote support services,” reads the letter. The decision came in response to inquiries from Motherboard regarding the telecom’s plans for dealing with surges in at-home internet use throughout the country, as offices close and people are being advised to avoid large gatherings and densely populated public spaces.Įarlier today, a group of 17 US Senators sent a letter to the chief executives of eight internet service providers - including AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile, and Verizon - demanding they suspend broadband data caps (or the fees associated with going over the limit) and throttling due to the coronavirus crisis. “Many of our AT&T Internet customers already have unlimited home internet access, and we are waiving internet data overage for the remaining customers,” a company spokesperson tells Motherboard. AT&T says its broadband data caps will be suspended to help with work-from-home policies

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