More Than 21 Million Reasons Congress Needs to Act

As the past few years have made clear, access to high-speed broadband is critical to daily life. While the biggest broadband provisions of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) focused on building physical broadband networks, legislators clearly understood all the infrastructure in the world would be meaningless if those struggling financially couldn’t afford connectivity. That’s why Congress created the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) as part of the IIJA, to make free or very low-cost broadband service possible to eligible households. Policymakers across the political spectrum widely tout the ACP as essential to ensuring that affordability does not impede connectivity. Yet the ACP funding level is now running dangerously low, with existing funds likely to be depleted early next year — more than 21 million households are counting on Congress to ensure their connectivity continues uninterrupted and that they’re not left on the wrong side of the digital divide. Congress should ensure that low-income households across the country can stay connected to these opportunities powered by broadband. In other words, Congress should make it clear that the ACP is a commitment Americans can count on and keep this important program funded.

[Totelcom Communications CEO Jennifer Prather also chairs USTelecom’s Leadership Committee.]