SurgePays Approved for Emergency Broadband Benefit Program to Expand Broadband Access in US

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

SurgePays Inc. SURG, a blockchain fintech company building a next-generation supply chain network that offers wholesale goods and financial services for the underbanked — more cost-efficiently than traditional distribution models — has netted an approval that will see it expand its services to more Americans.

The company has received an EBB program approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide eligible low-income households discounted broadband services and certain connected devices. The program will enable qualified households to stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic period.

The EBB program provides up to a $50 per month discount on broadband service and associated equipment rentals and up to $75 per month for those qualifying on Tribal land. The program also offers a one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, tablet or desktop computer with a co-payment of more than $10 but less than $50.

The internet has become an integral part of the way the world connects and communicates today. Millions of Americans rely on it for communication, entertainment, education, business and other day-to-day activities.

The U.S. has among the highest number of internet users globally. It is estimated that approximately 269.5 million — about 90% of the population — has access to mobile internet as of January 2021.

The growth of mobile internet has been widely possible because of the massive investment, infrastructure development and expansion over the years. Although there seems to be some growth in access, many more individuals and households are still not connected or can’t afford services.

Expanding Broadband Access to Americans

While the world relied heavily on the internet for work, communication and entertainment during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people were underserved. Most people have not been able to take advantage of the teleworking and e-commerce potential broadband presents to their livelihood.

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

To help expand internet and broadband access to more people, the FCC has introduced the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program. The EBB program helps families and households struggling to afford internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Who Is Eligible for the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program?

A household is eligible if a member of the household meets one of the criteria below:

• Has an income that is at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid or Lifeline
• Approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision in the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school year
• Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year
• Experienced a substantial loss of income due to job loss or furlough since February 29, 2020, and the household had a total income in 2020 at or below $99,000 for single filers and $198,000 for joint filers
• Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating provider's existing low-income or COVID-19 program

SurgePays’ Broadband Drive to Expand Access to Qualified Households

SurgePays, has over the years, strived to meet the needs of the unbanked in financial technology, telecommunications and digital media.

Photo by Hannah Wei on Unsplash

The EBB program enables SurgePays to provide discounted broadband services through the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, SurgePhone, to qualified users based on income.

SurgePhone is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and operates both the SurgePhone wireless and Loco Rabbit wireless brands. The company will offer customers discounted services in 14 states — California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Texas.

The project kicks off this month, and the company will be providing low-income families who have been affected by COVID with tablets and data every month. “That’s going to be a huge deal for our company and it’s going to grow our customer base on the wireless subscriber side significantly,” an elated Brian Cox, CEO of SurgePays, told Benzinga in an exclusive interview.

The company reported it is modeling 5,000 sign-ups per month for the service and is looking to ramp over time.

With the company expected to list on Nasdaq this quarter, Cox believes that SurgePays’ FCC program approval is coming at an opportune time. The approval aligns with the company’s core foundation of serving the underbanked and providing essential products that the market needs and wants.

The company’s business model is chalking some huge successes because it operates through the local community markets — convenience stores and gas stations — that serve underbanked communities and sell suites of products, including wholesale products outside of the fintech suite.

Listing on Nasdaq

Cox revealed the company is at the last stages of the process to list on Nasdaq and things are going smoothly. “We’re very excited about that. As a company, our largest growth is definitely ahead of us.”

He is hopeful that the Nasdaq listing will enable the company to raise more funds to expand its sales force and make more acquisitions.

SurgePays is in an aggressive sales phase where it is looking to acquire the services of regional level companies. The company also hopes to grow further by adding more products to its portfolio.

Currently, the company has 34,000 retail stores in its database and hopes to add on 15 stores on average per day. SurgePays hopes to add 12,000 stores by the end of the year and hopefully double that number by the end of 2022.

BLITZ – The Game Changer

To enhance its services, SurgePays launched a proprietary, blockchain-supported sales funnel, customer relationship management (CRM) and business intelligence (BI) platform, BLITZ. The company also announced on June 22 the expansion of sales activities by strategically centralizing its sales operations through the appointment of two national sales managers.

BLITZ, developed and owned by SurgePays, maintains a database of more than 34,000 retail stores. The software platform is important because it acts as a central nervous system that ties the company’s business activities.

Explaining the significance of the software platform, Cox said it would enable SurgePays to quickly respond to the needs of stores, provide an effective ticketing system, and serve as a good sales funnel where the company can cultivate leads for stores.

“Our customer service will be better, acquisitions will be easier for the stores, and it makes it better for our service reps and our professionals to do a better job of communicating back and forth with these stores,” he added.

Finances

SurgePays disclosed on March 30 that it had retired $2.6 million in debt since January 1, 2021, releasing 86,870,025 shares previously reserved for loans.

Retiring some of the company’s debt is crucial, and as Cox explained, “it was of huge significance for our company because it paved the way for smoother sailing to Nasdaq. On Nasdaq, if you don’t perform, you suffer the consequences and you’re held accountable. If you perform, then you’re rewarded.”

Due to the COVID pandemic that took a toll on businesses last year, SurgePays took on $2 million of variable convertible debt and had 90 million shares convertible overhang in reserve.

“We got beaten down in the market pretty significantly for that, which I understand that’s fair. So, when we eliminated all the convertible debt and returned all those reserve shares to the treasury, we never saw a bounce back up. We never got rewarded in the market for all the good that we did.”

With the help of its experienced team and outstanding professionals, the company looks forward to getting rewarded on Nasdaq as it hits its numbers, eliminates debt, increases business development and outperforms in sales.

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.