Altice USA Launches the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program for Optimum & Suddenlink Cu...

Qualifying households will receive a credit of up to $50 a month (or up to $75 a month for households on Tribal lands) on broadband services and associated equipment rental charges as part of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Emergency Broadband Benefit Program.

Altice USA (NYSE: ATUS), the provider of Optimum and Suddenlink internet, television, and phone service, today announces that as part of its continued efforts to keep communities connected and make broadband more accessible, the company has launched the FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, which will provide eligible Optimum and Suddenlink residential customers with a credit towards their internet service payments.

Optimum and Suddenlink residential customers who meet the eligibility criteria based on the FCC’s rules will receive a monthly credit of up to $50 (or up to $75 for customers on Tribal lands) towards their internet service and associated internet equipment rental charges. The offer is available to both new and existing Optimum and Suddenlink residential customers and will continue until six months after the date the federal government declares the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency or until funds from the FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program have been depleted. For more on the program, visit https://www.fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit.

For information on eligibility and how to apply, Optimum and Suddenlink customers can visit Optimum.com/EmergencyBroadband and Suddenlink.com/EmergencyBroadband

To ensure consumers are aware of the program and available financial relief, the company is conducting a multi-pronged marketing campaign complete with digital advertising, direct e-mails, and newsletters.

“Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, Altice USA, through our Optimum and Suddenlink brands, has been committed to keeping our customers connected by providing reliable, high-speed internet service and extending broadband access even deeper into the communities we serve through programs like our low-cost Altice Advantage Internet service and partnerships with local government, community organizations, and school systems that remove cost as a barrier to accessing home broadband service,” said Hakim Boubazine, President of Telecommunications and Chief Operating Officer. “We are proud to participate in the FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, an example of another great public-private partnership to address the digital divide.”

Altice USA has established several initiatives to keep customers connected and to provide relief to communities experiencing hardship due to the effects of the public health crisis. The company continues to offer its Altice Advantage Internet product, a 30 Mbps broadband solution, complimentary for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students who do not currently have home internet access. Altice USA is also working with school districts to provide solutions to reach households that lack connectivity, including through offering a centralized purchase program that allows school districts to identify and provide connectivity to students without broadband access at home, as well as through the company’s Student WiFi product, which enables school-issued devices to access the Optimum WiFi network in the New York tri-state area.

Altice USA offers a wide range of broadband speeds to meet all needs and budgets, starting with Altice Advantage Internet, available to eligible customers for $14.99 per month, and going up to multi-gigabit services for enterprise customers. In addition, the company’s mobile service, Altice Mobile, currently offers customers data, talk and text on a nationwide network with 5G coverage starting at just $14 per line per month.

About Altice USA

Altice USA is one of the largest broadband communications and video services providers in the United States, delivering broadband, video, mobile, proprietary content and advertising services to more than 5 million residential and business customers across 21 states through its Optimum and Suddenlink brands. The company operates a4, an advanced advertising and data business, which provides audience-based, multiscreen advertising solutions to local, regional and national businesses and advertising clients. Altice USA also offers hyper-local, national, international and business news through its News 12, Cheddar and i24NEWS networks.

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Ashwin Bhandari [e-mail]