Public Draft Rules for the FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program

The Federal Communications Commission released draft rules for the Affordable Connectivity Program. If adopted, the released Report and Order would finalize rules for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which builds upon the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB Program), and will offer eligible low-income households discounts off the cost of broadband service and connected devices. In the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress extended and made several changes to the EBB Program to transform it from an emergency program designed to respond to a public health crisis to a longer-term broadband affordability program, and appropriated to the FCC an additional $14.2 billion to implement those changes. FCC staff, in coordination with the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), the administrator of the EBB Program, prepared for the transition from the EBB Program to the Affordable Connectivity Program, and began accepting applications and enrollments for the Affordable Connectivity Program on December 31, 2021. To date, approximately 90,000 households have enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program and more than 9 million EBB Program households transitioned to the Affordable Connectivity Program and will continue to receive affordable broadband through this newly launched program.

A factsheet and copy of the draft Report and Order can be found at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-378999A1.pdf