Insider Q&A: T-Mobile pushes internet for virtual school

NEW YORK (AP) — T-Mobile is pushing to offer internet service to schools that are doing online learning with a program aimed at low-income students who don’t have access. In the U.S., millions of students don't have high-speed internet or computers at home — a difficult enough situation when it was just about trying to get homework done, but a much bigger problem when many school districts have moved part or all of the school day online during the coronavirus pandemic.

School districts are spending big to address the crisis. The L.A. Unified School District is investing $100 million in online learning, including computers and internet service for kids who don't have them. T-Mobile wants to expand its business that serves large organizations like big companies and schools.

It had already planned to give districts 100 gigabytes of free wireless data per year per student, a commitment the company made while pursuing its acquisition of Sprint. But since that allotment wouldn't last more than a few months if kids streamed school all day, T-Mobile is adding two paid plans as well: $12 a month per household for 100GB, or $15 a month for unlimited data. The carrier says those prices are discounted to reflect the free-data offer.

Matt Staneff, T-Mobile’s chief marketing officer, and Mike Katz, an executive who leads the T-Mobile division that caters to large organizations like schools and big companies, spoke with The Associated Press about the company’s new effort to serve schools. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Is providing connectivity to schools something that you see as a big business opportunity?

Staneff: Sure, there’s business opportunities there. But the motivation of doing this is that we recognize there’s a problem in society of kids not being connected. We want to do more...