How 23 Million Americans Are Adjusting to Life Without the Affordable Connectivity Program

For as long as the internet has existed, there’s been a gap between those who have access to it—and the means to afford it—and those who don’t. The vast majority of federal broadband spending over the past two decades has gone toward expanding internet access to rural areas. Only $14.2 billion went to making the internet more affordable through the Affordable Connectivity Program. Some 13% of ACP subscribers, or roughly 3 million households, said that after the program ended they planned to cancel service, according to a Benton Institute for Broadband & Society survey conducted as the ACP expired. Most people who used the ACP won’t cut their internet subscriptions—they’ll just feel their already-strained budgets stretched a little thinner. In Benton’s survey, 56% of low-income households said a monthly bill up to $75 was too expensive; the average monthly internet bill they reported was $66.53. In other words, there’s very little wiggle room for these households before internet costs become unaffordable. “The ACP helped close the digital divide, but it also addressed this issue of subscription vulnerability,” said John Horrigan, senior fellow at the Benton Institute. “I think it's sometimes underappreciated how the ACP has helped with maintaining connectivity among low-income households, lessening this falling off the network from time to time due to economic issues.”