Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Today we are releasing our latest version of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Enrollment Performance Tool, which updates data through February 2024. We introduce a new feature in this version—the ACP Risk Score for each zip code included in the tool. This score indicates the degree to which households in a given zip code are at risk of losing or reducing internet connectivity should the ACP benefit lapse.

Guam's Office of Infrastructure Policy and Development (OIPD) has released its draft Digital Equity Plan. In the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, the island of Guam, an unincorporated territory of the United States, emerges as a testament to resilience, unity, and evolution. Its history is a rich tapestry of cultures, forged by the perseverance of its indigenous people and the influences of various settlers and conquerors throughout the millennia. The journey of Guam has been one of transformation.

Created by Congress in 2020 and renewed in 2021, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is helping 23.3 million households afford internet access. But funding for ACP—the largest, most successful internet affordability program in US history—is set to expire on May 30, 2024. This week, President Joe Biden proposed short- and long-term funding solutions in his budget. And a House bill to provide funding through the end of 2024 had 180 cosponsors in the House of Representatives.

This week, the Biden-Harris Administration announced its proposed 2025 fiscal year (FY) budget. According to the White House, President Biden's top economic priority in the FY 2025 budget is to lower costs for American consumers–reducing junk fees, lowering healthcare costs, and the prices of everyday goods and services.

On March 9, 2024, President Joe Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R. 4366) legislation that funds, through September 30, departments and agencies of the Federal Government covered by six appropriations bills. Here we look at broadband-related funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). 

On March 14, the Federal Communications Commission adopted its annual assessment of whether broadband is being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion.

In its 2024 Broadband Deployment Report, the Federal Communications Commission raised its fixed speed benchmark for broadband to 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload. The FCC last updated these benchmark speeds in 2015 when it set the speeds at 25/3 Mbps. There is an obvious, short answer to how the FCC reached its 100/20 determination: Congress.

Allegan County’s journey to universal connectivity has overcome a number of obstacles: accurately determining the extent of connectivity gaps, exploring potential strategic solutions, and tackling costs in a manner palatable to the community. Advancing this initiative required a leader with deep industry knowledge and a strong connection to the community.

The Biden Administration has launched a new effort to lower costs and promote competition for US consumers. The Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing––co-chaired by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)––aims to strengthen interagency efforts to root out and stop illegal corporate behavior that hikes prices on consumers through anti-competitive, unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent business practices.

Best practice methods for assessing affordability developed and endorsed by academic and government affordability experts can provide much greater precision in assessing need thereby enabling more informed and more targeted digital equity interventions. However, recent experience in Washington state has revealed that few of us in the digital equity realm are yet comfortable applying these methods, or, indeed, are even aware of them.