Prepaid business likely to suffer from demise of ACP

If Congress doesn’t act soon, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is expected to run out of money by the end of April, leaving millions of Americans without discounted internet services. While the demise of the ACP will hurt broadband providers the most, wireless operators and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) will also lose because there are millions of ACP recipients using their benefits to purchase wireless service plans. ACP data from the FCC that was released in April 2023 indicates that some of the biggest ACP providers are wireless companies. For example, MVNO Q Link Wireless received $288.2 million in ACP funding, Tracfone Wireless, which is now owned by Verizon, received $250.2 million, T-Mobile received $208 million, AT&T received $188.4 million, and Dish Wireless received $119.7 million in ACP funding. According to analyst Roger Entner, founder of Recon Analytics, if the ACP program is not extended, wireless operators will see a drop in their prepaid and postpaid customers. However, he said that because the ACP program isn’t a profitable business for wireless carriers, they won’t see an impact to their bottom line.