Can the ACP keep the lights on? Maybe.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) well is about to run dry, but some analysts remain hopeful that the program may be able to secure additional funding. As the saying goes: it ain't over till it's over. To be sure, the odds are still favoring ACP funds running out, New Street Research’s Blair Levin said. However, he said chances are “creeping up,” with signs that support for a funding extension is growing. Following months of pleas from the Federal Communications Commission, internet service providers and those receiving ACP subsidies, Congress proposed a $7 billion bill—the ACP Extension Act—to keep the program funded at least through the end of 2024, but it appears to be a slow slog when it comes to actually passing. Former FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly warned that legislating on independent vehicles like the ACP Extension Act can be difficult. The more likely path forward for the program might be packaging it with other, bigger bills. In one such effort, the Biden Administration asked Congress for an additional $6 billion to the ACP through December 2024, as part of a $56 billion budget request for "critical domestic priorities," including childcare, disaster relief and energy independence. That package, proposed in October, has also reached a bipartisan impasse.