Millions of Low-Income Families Set to Lose Internet Subsidies

The $14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity Program provides low-income households up to $30 off their internet bill each month, and households living on eligible tribal lands can receive a discount of up to $75 a month. More than 23 million households receive either reduced bills or effectively free internet service through the program. But federal officials began winding down the program in early March 2024, when they stopped accepting new applications and enrollments. The program was tucked into the 2021 infrastructure law as a replacement for a pandemic-era program that provided certain households discounts on their internet bills. Although there is some bipartisan support to continue the subsidies, lawmakers have not passed an extension. The end of the subsidy program could also complicate the Biden administration’s other $42.5 billion program to provide every American access to broadband, said Drew Garner, the director of policy engagement at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. The funds, which will be distributed as grants to internet providers, are meant to cover much of the cost of building broadband infrastructure.