Report on the Performance Audit of the Affordable Connectivity Program

At the request of the Federal Communications Commission's Office of Inspector General, Kearney & Company audited the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) between November 2022 and August 2023. The objective was to determine if the FC implemented the ACP in accordance with the requirements of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Overall, Kearney observed the following:

• The FCC did not establish specific performance targets to evaluate its performance against its goals.
• FCC and Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) controls effectively ensured participating providers were approved before they were allowed to submit claims for reimbursement
• USAC did not always make the correct eligibility determinations when eligibility documents were manually reviewed.
•  The FCC did not create a policy and procedure document to outline the procedures used for identifying and reporting ACP complaints.
• The FCC did not draft a report on participating provider compliance.
• FCC's reliance on participating providers to self-certify that the requirements of the ACP had been met when making reimbursement claims needs improvement.
• The FCC stood up its ACP outreach grants program too late for evaluation.
• FCC and USAC declined to establish controls to review documentation prior to approving payments, citing a lack of cost-benefit.
• Six of the nine recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office remained open as of October 31, 2023.