"Granting access to high-speed internet without addressing affordability will prevent hundreds of thousands of D.C. residents from participating in the benefits of connectivity and improving their lives and outcomes."

—District of Columbia State Broadband and Digital Equity Office

Goal One for the District of Columbia State Broadband and Digital Equity Office is to make high-quality, affordable, high-speed internet accessible to all residents of D.C. in their homes and local Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs) and drive equitable adoption of broadband. Key to that goal is ensuring that no D.C. resident must pay more than two percent of their gross income per month for high-speed internet. But, as a percentage of the total population, D.C. has more people with income below 150 percent of the federal poverty line than the US does overall. So affordable internet service is a key priority of the District's Broadband and Digital Equity Office.

Using the July and August 2023 pricing available on D.C. providers’ websites, the State's Broadband and Digital Equity Office found that for 300 Mbps download speed plans, the maximum price for non-promotional service is $60/month, while the minimum nonpromotional pricing is $25/month. Based on an analysis of a representative sample of 203 broadband serviceable locations (BSLs), 61 percent of BSLs do not have access to 300 Mbps service for $30 or less. This is because the minimum price to a majority (61%) of BSLs in D.C. is $50.

In a DC Broadband Access and Digital Equity survey, respondents were asked how much they were willing to pay monthly for internet service. Only 29 percent of respondents are willing to pay more than $50 monthly.  Approximately 55 percent are willing to pay more than $30 monthly, and approximately 20 percent of respondents are willing to pay at most $10 monthly.

According to the 2021 American Community Survey, approximately 88,000 D.C. residents in about 39,000 households (23 percent) did not have broadband subscriptions. Survey results show that high prices for high-speed internet services that do not fit into a monthly budget are a significant obstacle to raising the number of households with broadband subscriptions. For 11.9 percent of D.C. households—about 37,000—a $30-per-month plan exceeds the affordability threshold set by the National Governor’s Association. For 17 percent of all D.C. households, which is about 53,000 households, a $40 per month plan is above the affordability threshold, and for 22.5 percent of households, or about 70,000 households, a $50 per month plan is above the affordability threshold. In addition:

• 51 percent of respondents said they found it difficult or somewhat difficult to fit their monthly internet bill into their budget; and
• 53 percent of respondents with one or more disabilities, and 71 percent of low-income respondents and 65 percent of individuals having one or more disabilities found it difficult or somewhat difficult to fit their monthly internet bill into their budgets.

When the Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) was still active, DC had one of the country’s highest rates of adoption—50 percent.  Approximately 105,000 DC households qualified for ACP and about 53,000 of those households were enrolled. 

D.C.'s  State Broadband and Digital Equity Office is committed to providing residents the opportunity to access broadband service at a low cost.

D.C.'s Community Internet Program

D.C.'s Community Internet Program (CIP) allows any internet service provider (ISP) free access to the roofs of D.C.-owned buildings, operated by the Department of General Services, to install service antennas if the ISP commits to providing resident connectivity with high-speed connections (200 Mbps upload/200 Mbps download or higher) at reduced or no cost to households eligible for the ACP. 

D.C.'s BEAD Low-Cost Broadband Service Option

The District of Columbia proposes to follow the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's example low-cost plan and will require Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program subgrantees to offer a service option that meets, at a minimum, the following criteria:

• Costs $30 per month or less, inclusive of all taxes, fees, and charges with no additional non-recurring costs or fees to the consumer.
• Provides the greater of (a) typical download speeds of at least 100 Mbps and typical upload speeds of at least 20 Mbps, or the fastest speeds the infrastructure is capable of if less than 100 Mbps/20 Mbps or (b) the performance benchmark for fixed terrestrial broadband service established by the Federal Communications Commission.
• Provides 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 to which subscribers to all other broadband internet access service plans offered to home subscribers by the participating subgrantee must adhere.
• In the event the provider later offers a low-cost plan with higher speeds downstream and/or upstream, permits eligible subscribers who are subscribed to a low-cost broadband service option to upgrade to the new low-cost offering at no cost. 

The D.C. plan does lean heavily on the ACP which has now ended. BEAD-supported ISPs would have been required to allow end-users to apply the ACP subsidy to the service price. And these subgrantees would have been required to participate in the ACP. Even though ACP has not been renewed, charges for the low-cost plan will be required to remain at $30 per month, inclusive of taxes and fees. 

Since ACP has ended, the D.C. State Broadband and Digital Equity Office plans to launch proceedings to partner with relevant D.C. agencies to evaluate viable alternative approaches and the feasibility of establishing possible successor programs for eligible subscribers in D.C., including potentially engaging local Medicaid leadership to determine if broadband subscription may be made reimbursable as a social determinant of health. [If Congress extends ACP or establishes a successor program, BEAD subgrantees will be required to participate.] Should such a D.C. successor program be established, the State Broadband and Digital Equity Office will determine who is eligible for the low-cost option in D.C., and the low-cost option will apply to those residents.

The State Broadband and Digital Equity Office is already in discussions with various agencies to find alternative options for determining eligibility. It is possible that the office may use existing eligibility guidance with programs such as SNAP or other programs under the U.S. Department of Human Services. The State Broadband and Digital Equity Office is working to ensure that there will be a refined mechanism to verify eligibility.

D.C.'s Middle-Class Affordability Plan

The affordability of broadband services from BEAD-funded networks for middle-class households is also a priority for the D.C. State Broadband and Digital Equity Office. The affordability of internet service plans for middle-class households is addressed by BEAD Proposal Scoring Criteria and Recommended Service Plans.

BEAD Proposal Scoring Criteria

The office's primary means of ensuring affordability is the weight of affordability in the criteria established in its BEAD proposal. Affordability will comprise 20 percent of the scoring criteria to evaluate proposals. Under the scoring criterion, the lowest total cost service package of gigabit symmetrical service will receive full credit. More expensive packages receive a percentage of points reflective of their percent distance from the lowest cost package

Recommended Service Plan

The State Broadband and Digital Equity Office recommends that BEAD subgrantees who are awarded funds to serve a location adopt the following affordable service option to ensure that BEAD funds are used in a manner that increases the affordability of broadband services for middle-class households: 

• Costs $50 per month or less, inclusive of all taxes, fees, and charges billed to the customer.
• Consistently and reliably provides download speeds of at least 100 Mbps and typical upload speeds of at least 20 Mbps.
• Provides 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 to which subscribers to all other broadband internet access service plans offered to home subscribers by the participating subgrantee must adhere.
•  Information about the plan must be publicly available and easily accessible.

The affordable service option must be made available across the subgrantee’s BEAD-funded project areas—and the State Broadband and Digital Equity Office encourages subgrantees to make the option available across their entire service territory. 

Additional Coverage on District of Columbia Broadband Priorities

• Working Towards Digital Equity in DC

See the latest District of Columbia 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
• How Maryland is Working to Make Broadband More Affordable
• Arizona Aims to Make the "6th C" More Affordable
• Illinois Committed to Changing the Broadband Affordability Picture
• Broadband Affordability is First and Foremost in Maine
• Universal Access to Affordable, Reliable Broadband in Kentucky
• Hawai'i is Working to Connect All to Affordable Broadband

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