Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said after calls with more than 50 companies that they also agreed to waive any charges for delays incurred by residential or small business customers due to their economic circumstances related to the pandemic of coronavirus.
They also agreed to open Wi-Fi access points to anyone who needs them.
Millions of Americans are expected to work and study from home, as employers and states urge people to stay away from workplaces and schools to reduce the potential for the spread of the coronavirus.
Others who agreed to participate include Google Fiber from Alphabet Inc, Charter Communications Inc, CenturyLink Inc, Cox Communications, Sprint Corp, T-Mobile US Inc.
"As the coronavirus outbreak spreads and causes a series of disruptions in the economic, educational, medical and civic lives of our country, it is imperative that Americans stay connected," Pai said in a statement. "Broadband will allow them to communicate with their loved ones and doctors, telework, ensure that their children can participate in remote learning."
Many companies also agreed to waive data limits for the next 60 days.
Charter Communications said it would offer free broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days and waive installation fees for homes with students without their service.
For customers with international long distance plans, Sprint will provide free international calling rates from the United States to countries with large coronavirus outbreaks.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, praised the companies that adopted the promise, but said the FCC should do more.
He called on the commission to "provide loan access points to students whose school doors have closed,quot; and "to work with healthcare providers to ensure that connectivity for telehealth services is available to hospitals, doctors and nurses who treat to coronavirus patients and those in quarantine. "
Pai also said that he had asked providers who offer low-income consumers a lower-speed, cheaper service to increase speed and expand eligibility. Comcast said Thursday it was increasing its speed for all of its low-income users, while AT,amp;T said it was giving up data limits for home consumers who have plans with usage limits.
Internet companies expressed confidence that American networks can withstand the expected jump in traffic.
The U.S. Trade Group Telecom said in a letter to Congress on Friday that in areas where workers are told to stay at home, the group "has not observed that traffic changes time exceeding the maximum capacity of the network."
Verizon said "it has not seen any appreciable increase in data usage on any of its networks." Over 60% of US network traffic. USA It is streaming video and content.
