Nicole Ferraro

The House of Representatives unveiled a $1.1 trillion spending package on March 21 that, if passed, will keep the government from shutting down this weekend. What it won't do, however, is fund the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) before it ends in May 2024. With April set as the ACP's final month of full funding, advocates had hoped to see Congress fund the program in must-pass spending legislation. In addition to the ACP, another top priority for the telecom industry is getting more funding for the Secure Networks Program, also known as rip-and-replace.

Service providers will not be required to list information related to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) on their broadband labels, according to guidance issued by the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) on Monday.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which subsidizes broadband for low-income households, will officially stop accepting new enrollments after February 7, as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gears up for the popular program to run out of funds this May.

As communities around the US work to close their digital divides, more and more are pursuing municipal broadband networks as a solution. As a recent example, in mid-January 2024, the state of New York was awarded $228 million by the Treasury Department for a grant program that will provide funding to "municipalities, non-profits, and other entities to construct open and accessible public bro

The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) sent a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) raising concerns that multiple states will fail to reach all unserved locations by funding fiber over other technologies. The concern comes as the NTIA is working on approving initial proposals for how each state and territory will conduct its Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) grant program.

In a letter to a group of Republican lawmakers, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed that the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is subsidizing fixed broadband services for nearly 10 million of the 22 million households enrolled in the program thus far. The letter was a response to an 

The Universal Service Fund (USF) – which financially supports several of the Federal Communications Commission's high-cost and low-income broadband programs, at roughly $8 billion annually – has been going through a tough time. This past year saw the USF dragged before federal court in cases brought by a conservative public interest group questioning the fund's legality. The Fifth and Sixth Circuit courts initially ruled against the petitioners, but the Fifth Circuit then agreed to hear the case en banc in September and has yet to rule.

Fiber network deployments in the US, while hitting a bit of a slowdown, are proceeding apace and will ramp up significantly as grants start to roll out from the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program in 2025.

The looming lapse of funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) threatens to widen the affordability and adoption gap just as the access gap is closing. The ACP, which currently provides a monthly broadband subsidy of $30 for roughly 22 million households, is projected to run out of funding by April 2024 without action from Congress.

The clock is ticking for state broadband offices to submit their initial proposals to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) describing how each state will carry out its competitive Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) grant process. The vast majority of states are still drafting their proposals and seeking stakeholder input, but that input works both ways.