Chairwoman Rosenworcel's Update to Members of Congress Regarding the Affordable Connectivity Program

I am writing to provide an update on the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which is on the brink of shutting down due to lack of funding.  This program is the largest broadband affordability effort in our Nation’s history.  Today, more than 23 million households nationwide count on it to get online and stay online, including vulnerable seniors, veterans, school-aged children, and residents of rural and Tribal communities.  Unless Congress acts, April will be the final month that those who count on the ACP—one in six households across the country—will receive the full benefit toward the cost of their broadband service.... To illustrate the extent of the service loss that may result from the end of this program, the attachment to this letter provides updated data on the number of enrolled ACP households in each state, territory, and congressional district.  Based on estimates of state-by-state participation rates, more than three-quarters of the states, along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have ACP participation rates among eligible households of 30 percent or higher.... When Congress asked the Commission to set up the ACP to further this goal, we did so in record time.  The result has been the most consequential broadband affordability effort in our history.  I want you to know that the agency remains ready to keep this program running, should Congress provide additional funding.  We have come too far to allow this successful effort to promote internet access for all to end.