How the End of the Affordable Connectivity Program is Hurting Low-Income Households and the U.S. Economy

A forthcoming report from the Benton Institute on Broadband & Society examines the impact of the demise of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) on low-income Americans and the affordability of home broadband service. The main findings from the survey are: 

• Households planning to end or cut back on service: Half of surveyed households that had enrolled in ACP said they would either terminate service or downgrade to a slower or cheaper option upon the program’s end.
• Lost financial benefits: Losing broadband service would inhibit online usage, as low-income respondents said not having at-home broadband would significantly impact their online shopping and curtail using the internet for telehealth appointments. The report’s analysis values these lost opportunities at over $2 billion annually.
• The gap between what people pay and what they feel comfortable paying:  The survey asked people what they pay per month for standalone home broadband service. The average figure cited was $66.53 per month. Yet when asked what they consider to be too expensive a price to pay for service, 56 percent cited monthly bills of $75 or less.
• Persistence of subscription vulnerability: Some 43 percent of all low-income households are subscription vulnerable, meaning they live at or near the poverty line, have had service disconnected due to difficulties paying their monthly internet bills, or express significant concerns about service affordability. This comes to approximately 19 million households in the United States that are subscription vulnerable. The ACP helped address this challenge for low-income households.

The April 2024 survey, conducted as ACP was set to expire, consisted of a nationally representative survey of over 2,500 households with annual incomes of $50,000 or less.