François Bar

The Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a means-tested federal program launched in January 2022 to support broadband connectivity among low-income households in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The expiration of the ACP benefit, the largest ever consumer support program for telecommunication services in U.S. history, invites a discussion about the impact of the program and what alternative policy mechanisms exist to promote equitable access to broadband.

Lifeline and the now defunct Affordable Connectivity Program have helped millions of families afford Internet services that support online learning, remote work, and access to telehealth, among many other uses linked to social and economic wellbeing. However, individuals and families entitled to receive these benefits often have to navigate a complex web of procedures to demonstrate eligibility, enroll in the program and receive services.

The likely expiration of the Affordable Connectivity Program, the largest ever connectivity support program for low-income households, invites a discussion about the impact of the program and what alternative policy tools are available to promote digital equity. This study offers a preliminary assessment of the ACP’s goal to promote fixed broadband among lowincome households.

This report presents the main findings from the 2023 Statewide Survey on Broadband Adoption Survey.

A look at potential changes to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) eligibility criteria based on participation in social benefits programs such as Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Public Assistance Income (PAP). These potential changes would have broad impacts since the National Verifier (NV) uses program participation rather than income to confirm eligibility for over 90 percent of ACP applications.

Congress is discussing a number of different scenarios to continue funding the Affordable Connectivity Program once the remaining funds are depleted, which is projected to happen in the first half of 2024. Several of the scenarios being considered involve changes to the current eligibility criteria. Here we examine the potential impact of lowering the household income eligibility threshold, currently set at 200 percent of the federal poverty line (FPL).

Discussions about funding for social programs are too often framed along predictable partisan lines. However, the reality on the ground is frequently more complex, and the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is no exception.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is the most ambitious federal initiative put into place to bridge the broadband connectivity gap for low-income Americans. The ACP launched in January 2022, serving almost 10 million households that were transitioned from the Emergency Broadband Benefit program (EBB). By the end of 2022, it had enrolled another 5.4 million households for a total of about 15.4 million subscribers in December 2022. Using data from the ACS 2021 1-year estimates, our estimation is that about 55.3 million households are eligible for ACP.

The phase-out of the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB) and the transition to the new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) represents an opportunity to take stock of the EBB program’s impact, and adjust key parameters to enhance the impact of the ACP.

The purpose of the $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program is to help low-income Americans connect to the Internet during the Covid-19 pandemic. As of October 2021, EBB has more than 6 million recipients (about 700 thousand in California) and Congress is discussing several proposals to transition the EBB into a permanent broadband subsidy program. This policy brief examines broadband affordability in California and explores awareness and adoption of the EBB program among low-income California households.