Sprint to Give Away Free Devices and Data to 1 Million Students

By Jules Cacti / 1476448927
(Photo : Flickr) Sprint's 1Million Project would kick off in January 2017.

Sprint has announced plans to offer free devices and data to one million students from low-income families in the U.S.

The new initiative, called the "1Million Project," is a multi-year plan that aims to provide free internet to low-income to students who cannot afford internet connections at home, according to PCMag. This program will give these students the convenience of having free but limited internet which they can use for homework and research.

Sprint said that students who participate in the program will be provided with either a free smartphone, tablet, laptop, or hotspot device. All of the recipients will be given 3GB of free high-speed LTE data every month. The who receive smartphones will be able to use them as hotspots and for unlimited texts and calls on the Sprint network.

According to the Pew Research Center, students belonging to low-income households that cannot afford to have internet connections often rely on smartphones for research.

According to the research, there are more than five million families in the US that do not have internet access at home. Students from such families will greatly benefit from the 1Million project.

The only thing that Sprint requires from its users is that they will agree to serve as "an ambassador to the program by participating in local events, distributing promotional materials, supplying student testimonials, etc." Gizmodo reported.

The program would start in January 2017, and will run for four years. Sprint will be working with non-profit organizations including EveryoneOn and My Brother's Keeper Alliance.