Affordable Broadband: FCC Could Improve Performance Goals and Measures, Consumer Outreach, and Fraud Risk Management

Access to broadband—high-speed internet—has become critical for everyday life. But its cost may keep some people from having access to it. The Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) offers eligible low-income households discounts on the cost of their broadband service and certain devices. FCC reimburses participating internet service providers for providing these discounts. To make it more affordable for low-income Americans, the FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program offers monthly discounts on broadband service to eligible households. FCC could strengthen the program's goals and measures, consumer outreach, and fraud-risk management to better ensure the program is meeting goals and protecting its funds from potential fraud. Ultimately, the recommendations include:

• Establishing Performance Goals and Measures: The FCC established some performance goals and measures for the program. However, the goals and measures do not fully align with key attributes of effective performance management. FCC's goals and measures lack specificity and clearly defined targets, raising questions about how effective these goals and measures will be at helping FCC gauge the program's achievements and identify improvements.
• Conducting Outreach: FCC has also engaged in various outreach efforts to raise ACP's awareness and translated its outreach materials into non-English languages to reach eligible households with limited-English proficiency. However, GAO reviewed a selection of these materials and the process to translate them and found that they did not fully align with leading practices for consumer content or for developing translated language products.
• Managing Fraud Risks: FCC has taken steps to manage fraud risks in the program, but FCC's efforts do not fully align with selected leading practices in GAO's Fraud Risk Framework. For example, FCC has conducted a fraud risk assessment but has not developed an antifraud strategy to address the identified risks. It also has not developed a process to conduct such risk assessments regularly.