Washington may be about to take a giant step backward in closing the digital divide

The North Star of communications policy should be to make services faster, better, and cheaper for all. Yet, next year, about 50 million Americans could find that their access to the core communications service of our time—broadband—has become slower, worse, and more expensive, with many even likely to be disconnected. That shift would constitute the biggest step any country has ever taken to widen, rather than close, its digital divide. The reason for the potential debacle? The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides a $30 per month subsidy for broadband to over 16 million households (with the number continuing to grow), will run out of funds. The program is projected to exhaust all its funds sometime in the first half of 2024. The end of the program would be a disaster for families who generally have little savings or discretionary income and will suddenly face monthly broadband charges of $30 or more. It would also rob the broader economy of an opportunity to grow faster due to universal connectivity. Ending the program would also limit the enormous potential for savings in critical services that broadband can deliver. The obvious solution is for Congress to continue funding the program. That is possible, as it enjoys bipartisan support.