How One Company Hoovered Up $3 Billion in Broadband Subsidies

The federal government has spent $12.82 billion in the last two years helping low-income households pay for internet service. Almost a quarter of it has gone to one company. Charter Communications received $3.01 billion through the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a larger slice than any of its competitors. Charter’s use of the program has come to the attention of regulators, who are examining some of its practices. At least two aspects of Charter’s approach to the ACP set it apart from its competitors. Charter pushed to sign up not only new customers for the government-subsidized plans, but also many of its existing subscribers. Existing subscribers who meet the qualifications are eligible for the program, and by law providers must promote it in their service area and tell customers about it when they renew a subscription, although some critics question if this is consistent with the stated goals of the ACP. Another distinctive piece of Charter’s strategy is the way it verifies customers’ eligibility. Many companies use the government-provided “National Verifier,” but they can also use their own process. Charter has primarily used an in-house method. In May 2023, the Federal Communications Commission sent a public letter to Charter asking the company to to double-check customers’ eligibility using the National Verifier.