Broadband Opportunity and Affordability Act

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has introduced the Broadband Opportunity and Affordability Act (BOAA), a bill which would amend the Communications Act to extend a universal service program at the Federal Communications Commission to provide support for broadband in low-income households.

The bill would:

1) create a two-year pilot program to expand the FCC's Lifeline program to support the recurring cost of basic broadband service for eligible low-income households (The FCC's existing Lifeline program subsidizes the recurring expenses of maintaining basic phone service in low-income households), and

2) ask the FCC to provide Congress with a report on expanding the related Link-Up program to assist with the costs of securing computer equipment to start up broadband service. The FCC's existing Link-Up program subsidizes the start up costs of beginning basic phone service for low-income consumers.