Affordable Connectivity Program (was Emergency Broadband Benefit Program)

The African American Mayors Association (AAMA) has urged congressional leaders to extend funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides high-speed internet service to low-income households nationwide. The coalition issued a statement on January 25. The AAMA seeks an additional $7 billion to ensure the program’s continuation. Since its inception, the ACP has afforded high-speed internet access to more than 20 million low-income families and has positively impacted the lives of communities of color disproportionately affected by these conditions.

Americans made more than 280,000 calls, emails, and social media posts to Congress in support of funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The program needs $7 billion in funding from Congress to ensure people aren’t disconnected from the internet in 2024. Don’t Disconnect US Day, which took place on January 25, spurred those who care about affordable internet to contact their congressional representatives. The resulting actions from supporters calling for Congress to fund the program included:

I am writing to keep you updated regarding the status of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).  I last wrote you on January 8, 2024 to explain that the remaining funding we have for the ACP—the largest and most successful broadband affordability program in our Nation’s history—is insufficient to support consumers who count on this program beyond April 2024.  My January 8, 2024 letter stressed that more funding is needed to keep the ACP in place, and that absent additional funding, the FCC would need to take steps to start orderly wind-down procedures for the ACP.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a federally funded program that has offered a monthly benefit to eligible households. Without urgent congressional funding, ACP will run out of funds, most likely at the end of April 2024. The FCC’s ACP Wind-Down guidance includes critical information and estimated dates. In addition, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance is providing guidance, based on insights from our community of affiliates, for organizations navigating this difficult period.

The Mississippi Office of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) released its draft State Digital Skills and Accessibility (DSA) Plan for a 30-day public comment period on January 5, 2024. The Mississippi DSA Plan outlines how BEAM will work towards ensuring broadband accessibility, affordability, digital skills training, and digital opportunities for all citizens.

The fate of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) remains unknown, but with the Federal Communications Commission scheduled to halt new enrollments in February, internet service providers are thinking about how a shutdown would impact the consumers relying on the subsidy. Some of the bigger companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon, said on their earnings calls they have backup plans if the ACP goes away. But what do the regional and rural providers think about the situation?

New Street Research took a deeper dive into the risks faced by wireline broadband operators if the government fails to refund the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and it were to be shut down this spring. The study confirms that Charter Communications faces the greatest risk—by far.

At the request of the Federal Communications Commission's Office of Inspector General, Kearney & Company audited the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) between November 2022 and August 2023. The objective was to determine if the FC implemented the ACP in accordance with the requirements of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Overall, Kearney observed the following:

By now, everybody has written about the pending end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The White House asked Congress to fund the ACP for a year for over $6 billion, and almost everyone I know is betting against a miracle from Congress. But even if the ACP gets funded somehow, how sustainable is the ACP if Congress has to act every year to renew it? There have been calls for moving the ACP under the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund (USF).

The Fiber Broadband Association partnered with Cartesian to research the cost of fiber deployment and provide insight on how costs are evolving over time. While no two deployment projects are alike, we found many common themes: