Sprint dispute could result in loss of affordable Internet for low income people

Sprint plans on shutting down an outdated cellular network the week of Nov 2. But two nonprofits are fighting Sprint in court, saying that the shutdown will cut off Internet access to low-income individuals, the elderly, and the disabled. The nonprofits, Mobile Beacon and Mobile Citizen, use Sprint's old "WiMAX" network to provide high speed wireless Internet to schools and other organizations that help the needy. Sprint's WiMAX rates are so low that the two groups charge as little as $10 per month for unlimited access. But Sprint plans to decommission WiMAX on November 6. WiMAX technology was developed by a company called Clearwire, which sold cheap Internet access via mobile hotspots. The network has been rendered obsolete by 4G-LTE.

Sprint bought Clearwire in 2013 and has planned to shut down the WiMAX network for more than a year. Mobile Beacon and Mobile Citizen claim that more than 300,000 under-served people will lose their only access point to the Internet as a result of the WiMAX shutdown. So they filed for an emergency ruling in a Massachusetts state court on Oct 26 to delay those plans.