Redemtech Says Refurbished PCs for Broadband for the Poor Cut E-Waste

Redemtech says it reduces e-waste, by deploying computers that otherwise would need to be recycled. “Whenever you can amortize the environmental impact of a product over a longer period, that’s a better scenario than prematurely grinding it up,” said Executive Vice President Jill Vaske. As a partner in C2C, Vaske said her company has made a commitment to make 25,000 refurbished computers available at $150 each, with the buyer having the option of purchasing either a laptop or a desktop. Redemtech has capacity to provide at least 300,000 computers to the C2C program annually, she said.

It’s unclear how many C2C-eligible homes will sign up for the low-cost broadband service, or can afford to pay $150 for a computer, Vaske said. “There are a lot of unknowns here.” Cable executives have said the program may not make money for the industry in the short run, but will help get some poor consumers who wouldn’t otherwise buy broadband connected to the Internet at home (CD Feb 14 p10). The NCTA has said about 5.5 million U.S. homes are eligible to participate. Comcast reported having almost 42,000 Internet Essentials subscribers by Dec. 31, about 7.5 percent of whom paid $150 for a computer. Some of the computers were new, and some were refurbished, a spokesman for the cable operator said.

Not all C2C customers will need a refurbished computer, Vaske said. “They don’t all need computers, but some number of them will, and I think the scale of the offering will require us to build an inventory capability that is greatly in excess of what we have today.” Comcast was “surprised by the low number of families who have opted to purchase a computer through Internet Essentials,” the operator said in a recent progress report. “While we had an initial concern with the $150 price point, our research shows that more than 80 percent of the families signing up for Internet Essentials report already owning a computer, and of those that did not purchase a computer only, a third thought price was a barrier."

Computer re-use dramatically cuts e-waste because 80 percent of the environmental impact from a PC arises from its manufacture, Vaske said: “Using it instead of making a purchase of a new device is a better environmental choice.” Redemtech has agreed to dispose of the machines for no charge when C2C subscribers retire their refurbished computers, Vaske said.

"It is a closed-loop offering,” Vaske said. “We've got a free recovery process, where we'll take back and sanitize their data off … and then we'll harvest any component materials that can be reused.” Redemtech, which has been getting its C2C computers from U.S. companies, is “aggressively” urging additional companies to donate their used computers to the program, she said. “Directing these to the C2C marketplace through Redemtech can not only be a great business process … but can create a social investment benefit,” Vaske said: “It allows” donor companies “to participate in some fashion without too much of a lift financially."

Comcast’s Internet Essentials and CenturyLink’s Internet Basics also sell netbook computers to their low-income subscribers at the same $150 price point. Vaske said Redemtech’s refurbished computers are business grade, apt to be more durable and come with “more of the typical traditional home PC capability” than netbooks. CenturyLink only offers new computers, a spokeswoman said. At Comcast, “most of the netbooks we offer are new, but some may be refurbished as well,” said a spokesman. “We partnered with Dell and Acer to ensure we could offer a high-quality, Internet-ready computer.” That’s “a core part of our effort to ensure that low-income families who do not have a home computer can have the option to purchase one for one of the lowest prices we've seen on the market,” he said.

Comcast last year introduced Internet Essentials after it was made an FCC condition of buying control of NBCUniversal. CenturyLink volunteered to offer Internet Basics as the commission was considering the company’s acquisition of Qwest last year, the CenturyLink spokeswoman said. Vaske hopes “we get the right kind of interest from the marketplace” in the $150 refurbished computers, she said. “If not, I guess we'll have to rethink our price point and see how we make this more effective, and I'm willing to do that."

The efforts of Comcast and CenturyLink to introduce new low-cost broadband services, which are still in their early stages, got good reviews from local government officials we spoke to. “Both of the companies have asked for our help and have been very diligent in working to get the word out,” said David Olson, director of the office for community technology for Portland, Ore. Olson said he doubted that Comcast and CenturyLink had signed up more than 100 subscribers together to their new services in Portland. “But we expect to see substantial growth in those numbers in the next six months,” he said. “We're encouraging it."

The programs haven’t spurred many consumer complaints, local officials said. Fred Christ, policy and regulatory affairs manager for the Metropoltian Area Communications Commission, which administers cable-TV franchises in the Portland area, said he'd heard of none. Laura Bonavita, a telecom lobbyist for the National League of Cities, said the only complaint she has heard about the new Comcast service is that it’s not available in every area. “You can’t get the discount if you're not in the Comcast footprint,” she said.

"In terms of putting out the message, I'd give them (Comcast) an A,” Bonavita added.

"We really do appreciate the fact that Comcast and CenturyLink are rolling out these programs,” said Angela Bailey, director of the broadband division of the North Carolina Department of Commerce. “We do work closely with broadband service providers and would be happy to work more closely with CenturyLink and Comcast to help market their programs.”