Congress should extend the worthwhile Affordability Connectivity Program (ACP) promptly by appropriating additional funding. At the same time, it can consider revising the program to better target the ACP benefit to those lower-income households most truly in need and adopting measures to minimize, to the extent possible, any waste, fraud, and abuse in the program. The ACP represents one-half of the federal government's push to make it possible for every American to access a high-speed Internet connection. The other side of the equation, of course, is the many – potentially too many – programs making massive amounts of money available for the construction of broadband infrastructure, specifically in those limited areas that remain unserved despite the trillions in private investment that have brought broadband to the vast majority of households. The ACP incorporates features that recommend it over other affordability approaches. One, it promotes the efficient use of taxpayer dollars by empowering recipients to exercise relatively unfettered choice in the competitive marketplace for broadband service. And two, it promotes political accountability because it is funded by a direct congressional appropriation, unlike Universal Service Fund (USF) programs, such as Lifeline, that unsustainably rely upon an anachronistic regressive tax that targets an arbitrary subset of communications services. Accordingly, it's worth repeating my call for Congress to act without further delay to extend and revise the ACP. Specifically, lawmakers should pass legislation that provides another one-time appropriation, sufficient to expand the ACP's lifespan over several years.

SpaceX has offered a public explanation for why Starlink's actual service availability falls far short of what it claimed on the Federal Communications Commission's national broadband map. SpaceX's FCC filings indicate it offers fixed broadband at virtually every address in the US even though the Starlink website's service map shows it has a waitlist in huge portions of the country.  SpaceX removed some homes from the FCC database when residents filed challenges because they were unable to order Starlink at addresses listed as served on the FCC map. SpaceX tried to clear up the confusion in an FCC filing. The company says it followed FCC rules when submitting data and blamed the FCC system for not allowing it to report data more precisely. Under the map system rules, SpaceX argues that it is allowed to report an address as "served" even if the resident can only order Starlink's RV service. Whether someone can order residential Starlink service at their address depends on "available capacity," which is "driven by local subscription levels," SpaceX wrote.

An effort to boost awareness of the year-old Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is getting more local after earlier attempts to promote it statewide resulted in just 23% of eligible Colorado households signing up to get up to $30 off their internet bills. To get the rest of the 77% signed up, state officials feel that the campaign needs to go analog and provide help right in local libraries, schools, and community centers. Lt Governor Dianne Primavera (D-CO) announced the new Colorado ACP Act Now, an initiative that includes partnering with the nonprofit EducationSuperHighway and 71 public libraries, city governments, internet providers, and others statewide to help their neighbors get connected in person. The organization is providing training and tools at no charge to Colorado. 181,867 households in Colorado had enrolled. State officials estimate that 800,000 are eligible, which means 23% have signed up. Evan Maxwell, CEO and founder of EducationSuperHighway, said his company's task is more or less accomplished, with 99.7% of schools served. The company has since turned to increase ACP awareness and adoption to help states find those eligible households who really could use faster internet.

[02/22/2023]

The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) has extended the deadline for Wave Three of the Connect New Mexico Pilot Program (“Pilot Program”). The application period will close on April 3, 2023. The Pilot Program aims to bridge the digital divide and foster socioeconomic progress by providing infrastructure grants for broadband deployment to unserved and underserved communities across New Mexico. The $123 million pilot program is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARPA) Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF). OBAE launched the program in August 2022 and announced Wave One awards in November 2022. An initial set of Wave 2 awards will be announced later in March and April 2023. OBAE invites existing and emerging Internet providers to participate and encourages partnerships between local and tribal governments. According to OBAE Director Kelly Schlegel, “The strongest proposals to date directly serve qualifying residential, business, and community premises with future-proof networks backed by “skin in the game,” and offer a range of affordably-priced services while fostering adoption through targeted programs.”