“Updated data!” is a phrase that fills the hearts of data nerds everywhere and we’re here to help with an update to our Affordable Connectivity Program Enrollment Performance Tool.

The data for the first version of the ACP Tool was current through January 2023, but we’ve fielded questions recently asking about updates. Today, we release an updated ACP Enrollment Performance Tool with data that runs through April 2023.

We also have some new features aimed at improving the tool’s usefulness to analysts who care about the Affordable Connectivity Program.

• ACP claimed subscriptions: The tool continues to track ACP enrollment in a given month, but it now includes claimed subscriptions, that is, the number of households using the ACP benefit. There is typically a difference between the number of enrolled households and the number of claimed subscriptions. That difference represents the time lag between when a household enrolls in ACP and when that household actually has a service plan discounted by the benefit. In the April 2023 data, for every ten ACP enrollees, there are seven claimed benefits. That figure varies across zip codes and may be of interest to stakeholders.
• Total ACP support: The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), which administers the program for the Federal Communications Commission, reports data on the dollar amount of ACP funds that benefit an area (at the 5-digit zip code). We include that figure, which includes dollars for service plan support and devices.
• Fixed a glitch: The initial ACP Tool did not include data for Alaska and Hawaii. This updated version does include those two states.

And, drumroll please, we are pleased to announce that we are now sharing the ACP Tool’s data—for free. Anyone can download a .csv file that includes data for the more than 25,000 zip codes included in the tool. The file contains, for each of the 25,000+ zip codes, the data elements that appear when a user searches on a specific zip code. There is also a “state code” field for users interested in aggregating tool data at the state level.

The goal of the ACP Enrollment Performance Tool is to give stakeholders a way to better understand how ACP enrollment is unfolding—in specific neighborhoods, towns, or states. Sharing the tool’s data will, we hope, make the tool more useful to stakeholders and policymakers.

On Wednesday, July 19, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Senior Fellow John Horrigan and Civic Nation's Elena Saltzman will participate in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Affordable Connectivity Program Enrollment Performance Tool updates and how to best focus ACP outreach and enrollment efforts in your community. Please submit your questions here and RSVP for the webinar here.

John B. Horrigan is a Benton Senior Fellow and a national expert on technology adoption, digital inclusion, and evaluating the outcomes and impacts of programs designed to promote communications technology adoption and use.

Brian Whitacre is Professor and Neustadt Chair in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University, where he studies the role of technology in rural economic development.

Hernan Galperin is Associate Professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication where he studies Internet policy and social inequality.​

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.

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