The number of unserved and underserved locations in Connecticut is estimated to be just under 8,000 (0.57% of all locations in the state). The northwestern corner, as well as rural areas in the east of the state, still have significant concentrations of unserved locations. 

In addition to access, there are significant challenges the state faces in achieving its universal broadband goals. Across the state, there is a need for greater competition and variation of services so that residents and businesses alike can choose the service that is most suited to their needs while pricing becomes more affordable. 

According to data collected by the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management (OPM), 86.7 percent of all eligible locations in the state have a broadband Internet subscription. Undersubscription is concentrated in 1) rural areas in the Northwest Corner and east of the state and 2) more primarily in large cities with higher-than-average poverty levels. These geographic trends point to the relationship between access to high-quality service and adoption and the importance of affordability in increasing broadband adoption. Among Connecticut households that do not subscribe to internet service of any kind, an estimated 18 percent report that a primary reason they do not pay for an internet service at home is an inability to afford service.

Poverty is among the strongest correlations with low levels of Internet subscribership in Connecticut and around the country. For each percentage increase in the portion of a Connecticut town’s population under 150 percent of the poverty line, there is a corresponding increase of unsubscribed locations of 0.6 percent. In census tracts with a poverty rate of 5.3 percent or less (accounting for approximately 1.5 million residents), 7.9 percent of all locations lack a broadband subscription. However, in census tracts with a poverty rate of 16.4 percent or higher (one-half standard deviation above the mean for all census tracts), this number increases to 25 percent. In the highest poverty areas (over 38.3%), over one-third (34.2%) of all locations lack a broadband subscription. 

Even outside of high-poverty areas in the state, affordability is still a dominant factor. According to a state-wide survey completed by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and OPM, affordability was the primary concern for more than 60 percent of respondents including those in low-poverty suburbs.

According to a 2022 analysis by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Office of Policy Analysis and Development, the mean price that households without a current broadband subscription want to pay for internet access is $10/month. For some, the only affordable price is $0. Meanwhile, estimates of the average monthly bill for Internet service range from about $50 to $70. Connecticut recognizes the need to integrate affordability measures into its broadband programming and address pricing barriers for both low- and middle-income households. 

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's (DEEP) Office of Telecommunications and Broadband works to ensure the universal availability, affordability, and accessibility of high quality, telecommunications services to all residents and businesses in the state. DEEP wrote the state's Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program which will provide $144 million to enhance broadband in the state.

Connecticut's Low-Cost Broadband Service Option for BEAD Networks

The State of Connecticut is committed to providing residents with the opportunity to receive low-cost broadband service, while simultaneously recognizing that internet service providers (ISPs) have a variety of different plans and may be unable to alter their pricing structure on a large scale. DEEP’s intention is to aid as many Connecticut residents as possible while ensuring that the scale of the low-cost obligation—and its resulting impact on the business case for ISP proposals to build to unserved Connecticut locations—does not discourage competitive applications. 

Based on previous experiences, DEEP notes, it is highly unlikely that ISPs would implement different pricing structures for only BEAD-funded areas, while maintaining other pricing in areas that are not BEAD-funded.

BEAD subgrantees in Connecticut will be required to offer a service option that meets, at a minimum, the following criteria: 

• Is available to all households that meet the eligibility requirements of the Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program, including income equal to or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. 
• Costs $30 per month or less, exclusive of directly government-imposed taxes and fees, but inclusive of all other charges billed to the customer, with application of an annual inflation factor based on the Consumer Price Index for the State of Connecticut. (If the ACP and the Lifeline subsidy could be applied to the low-cost service option, DEEP believes there would likely be no cost for eligible subscribers.)
  • DEEP is willing to consider a modification up to $50/month if 1) Per-subscriber costs in an area make $30/month financially unsustainable and/or 2) the impact on average revenue per user and total project revenue of the target rate ($30 or less) would be financially unsustainable given actual or projected subscriber adoption and subscription patterns.
• Allows the end user to apply the Affordable Connectivity Program and Lifeline program subsidies to the service price and makes a demonstrable effort to inform prospective customers of these programs and the steps necessary to enroll and apply the benefit to the service plan. 
• Meets performance requirements as established by the BEAD program by consistently and reliably providing download speeds of at least 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) and typical upload speeds of at least 20 Mbps and providing typical latency measurements of no more than 100 milliseconds. 
• Is not subject to data caps, surcharges, or usage-based throttling, and is subject only to the same acceptable use policies adhered to by all other broadband internet access service plans offered to home subscribers by the participating subgrantee.
• In the event the applicant later offers a low-cost plan with higher speeds downstream and/or upstream, permits Eligible Subscribers that are subscribed to a low-cost broadband service option to upgrade to the new low-cost offering at little to no cost. 

DEEP strongly encourages the low-cost broadband service option be made available to all eligible prospective customers across the subgrantee’s service territory; however, this service option must at least be available to locations within the awarded project areas under the BEAD program. 

DEEP believes this low-cost option best serves the needs of residents within Connecticut because it creates a foundation of affordability for service on BEAD-funded projects while also encouraging participation, predictability, and flexibility for service providers (important outcomes for the BEAD Program, as they encourage greater competition in the subgrantee selection process, wider deployment coverage, and more efficient use of BEAD funds). 

Low-Income Affordability After ACP

Perhaps the most widely recognized intervention to lower the cost of internet service was the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program, which subsidized up to $30 per month (or $75 for Tribal applicants) for broadband for qualifying households and may include a one-time subsidy toward buying a laptop or tablet. Nine providers operating in Connecticut—including Spectrum and Cox Communications—offered home internet plans at no cost to eligible subscribers who enrolled in the ACP. In Connecticut, 172,554 residents were enrolled in ACP as of October 16, 2023, representing approximately 29 percent of the 584,357 households in the state estimated to be eligible for the program.

Since ACP has expired and there is no current plan for a successor program, the Lifeline subsidy can be applied, resulting in a cost of $20.75/month, with an additional marginal cost that comes from mandatory government-imposed taxes and fees not determined by the service provider. (For Connecticut consumers residing on Tribal Lands, the Lifeline benefit is $34.25 per month, resulting in no cost to residents.)

DEEP finds that the $30 monthly ACP subsidy figure aligns with many current ISP low-cost offerings (in Connecticut and nationwide) and represents a sensible benchmark cost for a low-cost service option to be offered by subgrantees.

Connecticut's Middle-Class Affordability Plans for BEAD Networks

DEEP is adopting diverse strategies to meet the BEAD Program’s goal of ensuring every Connecticuter—including middle-class residents—has access to a reliable, affordable, high-speed broadband connection. DEEP will continually assess the affordability of available service options across Connecticut and work with providers to offer a range of choices that make broadband accessible to residents regardless of their income, particularly mid- to lower-income subscribers. 

DEEP will encourage BEAD subgrantees to offer price points that accommodate subscribers’ ability and desire to pay for reliable, high-speed service through a range of solutions, including but not limited to:

• establishing, making publicly available to consumers, and monitoring benchmarks for affordability;
• providing subsidies for broadband service; encouraging providers to extend low-cost service options to all subscribers;
• weighting affordability criteria in the scoring of its BEAD grant program; and
• promoting structural competition through regulations. 

DEEP plans to manage BEAD middle-class affordability by addressing the following areas of risk.

1. Small, Local Providers Propose Low Requested BEAD Support but Set High Subscription Costs

DEEP will encourage BEAD-participating ISPs to offer BEAD-supported areas the provider's best price for analogous products offered in other areas, in alignment with the gigabit best offered pricing requirement in the BEAD program rules.

2. Providers Shift Drop and Installation Costs to the Consumer to Recover Capital Costs

Grant participation rules will make clear that drops and network equipment are eligible BEAD costs and should be built into grant proposals to avoid inflated subscriber prices. (DEEP expects this risk to be somewhat mitigated by expanding competition in rural areas from 5G home internet and LEO satellite options.)

3. Providers Refuse to Provide Service to Expensive Locations

DEEP will monitor and ensure that awardees make good on their BEAD service commitments, including not assessing additional fees beyond standard installation fees. 

4. Differential Pricing Between Urban and New Project Areas

The gigabit best pricing policy mandated in the BEAD program scoring matrix sets requirements around geographic non-discrimination. 

Additional Coverage on Connecticut Broadband Priorities

• Everyone Connected: Connecticut's Digital Equity Plan
• Broadband is Key to Connecticut's Future

See the latest Connecticut broadband news

More in this Series

• Louisiana's Plan for Affordable Broadband
• Pennsylvania's Plan for Affordable Broadband
• Washington State's Plan for Affordable Broadband
• The Kansas Affordability Plan
• Affordable Broadband for Nevada
• Will BEAD Networks Deliver Affordable Broadband for All in West Virginia?
• Delaware Wants to be the First State to Achieve Universal Broadband—Affordability is a Key Component
• Eliminating the Digital Divide in the District of Columbia Requires a Focus on Affordability
• A Plan to Bridge the Digital Divide in Colorado
• Ensuring All Hoosiers Have Reliable and Affordable Broadband
• Increasing Broadband Availability, Accessibility, and Affordability for the Benefit of All Utahns
• The Connection Between Affordability and Internet Adoption in Oregon

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.

© Benton Institute for Broadband & Society 2024. Redistribution of this email publication - both internally and externally - is encouraged if it includes this copyright statement.

For subscribe/unsubscribe info, please email headlinesATbentonDOTorg

Kevin Taglang
Executive Editor, Communications-related Headlines
Benton Institute
for Broadband & Society
1041 Ridge Rd, Unit 214
Wilmette, IL 60091
847-220-4531
headlines AT benton DOT org

Share this edition:

Broadband Delivers Opportunities and Strengthens Communities