Press Release

As Atlantic hurricane season begins, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel highlighted actions the agency has taken to help the public reach emergency services, receive emergency information, and communicate during disasters.

The fiber rollout may be slow and concentrated in urban areas, but it’s customers’ preferred choice when available. Fiber internet service providers (ISPs) outshine non-fiber ISPs 76 to 68 (out of 100) for customer satisfaction, per the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Telecommunications Study 2024.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) awarded $1,481,167 to help Wisconsin residents access essential telecommunications services. The PSC awarded a total of 24 grants from the 2024 rounds of the Nonprofit Access Grant Program, the Lifeline Outreach Grant Program, and the Telemedicine Equipment Grant Program, all of which are funded by the Universal Service Fund (USF). The USF was created to promote and assist with the availability and affordability of telecommunications services in Wisconsin. 

 The Affordable Connectivity Program provided a way to bridge the digital divide for over 23 million US households, but congressional inaction has led to its unfortunate end. The consequences will be devastating. Soon, many underserved families in rural and urban communities alike will have to make the difficult sacrifice of losing access to telehealth services, online learning, employment opportunities, and so much more. Reliable broadband is essential to our way of life and economy. Without it, millions of families relying on the ACP for internet access will be left out and left behind.

“It is incredibly disappointing and just plain shameful that one of the most successful bipartisan programs to close the digital divide has lapsed. Every Congressional district in the country had constituents benefiting from this program, and still, Congress failed to deliver the funding needed to ensure that over 23 million households won’t lose connectivity. While the efforts made by the program's most ardent supporters in both Chambers were commendable, the resulting lapse of ACP makes it clear that the Congressional appropriations process is ill-suited for funding affordable broadband.

NEK Broadband and CVFiber announce a preliminary plan to join the two Communications Union Districts (CUDs). The proposed merger would unite resources, experience, expertise, and a shared commitment to deliver exceptional high-speed internet services to their collective 71 communities. Working together, they will be better able to support digital equity, economic growth, and community development across the Northeast Kingdom and Central Vermont.

Kinetic has been awarded an $11.9 million grant to significantly expand its fiber-optic network in Clarion County, Centre County, and Erie County, Pennsylvania, by the end of 2026. This expansion will bring gigabit internet speeds to nearly 2,400 previously underserved and unserved locations.

The end of the ACP will undo the significant progress we have made toward closing the divide and harm millions of Americans. Not only that, but it will have economic and competitive consequences for our country if we fail to maximize the $42.5 billion investment we’ve made in broadband infrastructure through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program. It is, as they say, penny wise and pound foolish. Connectivity has never been more important.

May 31st is the final day that households will receive any benefit from the Affordable Connectivity Program on their internet bills. Without Congressional action to extend funding for the program, millions of households are now at risk of losing their internet connections.

Today, the bipartisan Affordable Connectivity Program expires.  This will cause real harm to millions of Americans.  ACP is the most effective program we have ever had in closing the digital divide.  Over 23 million households enrolled in ACP, realizing the benefits of affordable, high-speed broadband.  And now we are leaving them behind. Let’s put that 23 million in context.  That’s one in six households in the country.  Millions of veterans, seniors, families of color, and households with children.