Reviewing State (Draft) Low-Cost Options

Under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, providers are required to offer a low-cost option to subscribers who are eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). However, the exact definition of what will qualify as “low-cost” is up to state and territory broadband offices to decide. Every broadband office has released a draft of these definitions in their Initial Proposal (Volume 2). In our scan, we are seeing a few different features emerge in these definitions, including having a variable price for different types of providers or geographies, allowing for some cost increases with inflation, using existing prices as a benchmark, and building in a contingency plan if ACP goes unfunded by Congress in 2024. 

[Jake Varn is Associate Manager of Policy & Engagement at The Pew Charitable Trusts' Broadband Access Initiative.]