Affordability/Cost/Price

NextLight, a community-owned fiber service provider in Longmont (CO), says its Internet Assistance Program—a substitute for the Affordable Connectivity Program—has experienced a 14 percent increase in subscribers in the year since its introduction. The IAP is an effort to provide broadband to economically challenged households. It was introduced in April 2024 as the ACP was about to be terminated. The service provides a $25 discount to qualifying households.

Astound Broadband has introduced a pricing structure—including a price lock offer—that it says will “eliminate confusion, offer greater value, and give customers full control over their connectivity.” Highlights of the offer:

A "rate card" outlines the pricing structure for a company's products or services. It's essentially a list of the standard, published rates for various offerings, and it serves as a reference for potential customers, existing customers, and the company's rivals. Changes to a rate card are not taken lightly. So, what to make of T-Mobile's new pricing changes? "We're a company that's motivated to help bring solutions and to make the lives of our customers better. And the pain is this: All around us, prices are going up.

In 2021, New York passed the Affordable Broadband Act (ABA), requiring internet providers to offer high-speed broadband to lower-income households for as little as $15 per month.

All across the country, a group of connectivity experts teaches locals, old and young, about the benefits of getting online. These workers, called Digital Navigators, link people in the community with the resources and opportunities they don't know exist, like arranging online health appointments, applying for jobs, doing homework and making their businesses visible on the internet.

Speeds and pricing are still core attributes of today's home broadband services, but service providers are continuing to expand into other aspects of broadband focused on better Wi-Fi and an overall improved customer experience. AT&T's fiber platform already has speed on its side, but the operator is putting more focus on in-home Wi-Fi with the launch of a new package called "All-Fi Pro." The new package features a Wi-Fi 7 gateway, Wi-Fi extenders, and an advanced form of ActiveArmor, an Internet security service that includes a home-side VPN.

As cable grapples with declining broadband subscribers and increased competition, Comcast unveiled a new pricing play that could turn the ship around for the industry, according to analysts. The operator is now offering a five-year price guarantee for new broadband customers—a plan that starts at $55/month with no annual contract required.

On March 27, 2025, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing to consider the confirmation of Arielle Roth, President Donald Trump's nominee for Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. If confirmed as the Assistant Secretary and head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Roth would oversee $48.2 billion in broadband infrastructure and adoption funding Congress allocated through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

On April 30, a committee in the California Assembly will hold a hearing on proposed legislation that would dictate rates for interstate broadband information services. Intended to promote affordability, the California bill would unwisely subject broadband service providers to price controls of $15 per month. But state-level rate regulation takes away broadband providers’ ability to set their prices in the free market, directly undermining their returns on investment in their network property.

Higher prices have come for your internet bill—at least it feels that way for many. That’s according to a new CNET survey that found 63 percent of US adults paying for home internet saw their prices increase last year. On average, they paid $195 more last year than they did the year before. Price hikes didn’t necessarily translate to better service, either. More than half of people who saw their bills increase said they still experienced unreliable connectivity. The survey results come at a fraught moment for the broadband industry in the US.