We need a permanent solution for universal broadband access

In August 2020, during the heart of the covid-19 pandemic when many schools were closed, social media and news outlets were awash with a picture of two grade school students sitting outside of a Taco Bell, attempting to do their schoolwork. That one picture changed millions of minds about the necessity for everyone in the US, regardless of economic status or geographic location, to have an affordable broadband Internet connection. It would not be hyperbole to say that this one photo was one of the motivating factors behind Congress including $14.2 billion for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Unfortunately, unless Congress acts very quickly, low-income Americans may again be forced to sit outside of fast-food restaurants to get internet access. In spite of widespread popularity, the ACP will run out of money by the end of April. The intense but so far unsuccessful effort over the past year by a wide swath of stakeholders to secure funding for the ACP is clear evidence of why the congressional appropriations process is ill-suited for funding important telecommunications priorities, like universal access to affordable broadband. Fortunately, there is a better alternative—the FCC's Universal Service Fund (USF) spends approximately $8 billion dollars every year to help close the digital divide. The USF must be reenvisioned to address today’s needs, including ensuring that there is a permanent funding mechanism for the ACP’s subsidy for low-income households. We are facing another “kids doing school work in front of a Taco Bell so they can use the Wi-Fi” moment, where over 23 million US households are in danger of losing affordable connectivity. The FCC has an opportunity and the power to save the program it stood up and nurtured. It should do so with urgency.

[Gigi Sohn is one of the nation’s leading public advocates for open, affordable, and democratic communications networks. Greg Guice has over two decades of experience working on federal efforts to close the digital divide in rural and tribal communities and for low-income families across the country.]