Affordable Connectivity Program (was Emergency Broadband Benefit Program)

The end of the Affordable Care Program (ACP) in May left a significant number of people at risk of losing access to broadband. Empowerus is trying to help soften the blow with a unique set of benefits that they believe constitute a replacement for the ACP. Empowerus and the Secure Card Association of America (SCAA) are partnering to provide a bundle of benefits to eligible households. Empowerus participants can opt for several benefits, including:

On July 9, the House Commerce Committee's Communications and Technology Subcommittee held a hearing on the fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget for the Federal Communications Commission. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel testified before the subcommittee along with fellow commissioners Brendan Carr, Geoffrey Starks, Nathan Simington, and Anna Gomez.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau extended, for an additional year, the waiver pausing both the phase-out of Lifeline support for voice-only services and the increase in Lifeline minimum service standards for mobile broadband data capacity.

A forthcoming report from the Benton Institute on Broadband & Society examines the impact of the demise of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) on low-income Americans and the affordability of home broadband service. The main findings from the survey are: 

AT&T CEO John Stankey said the most critical issue facing the telecommunications industry is the effective implementation of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. To close the digital divide, Stankey said, additional policies should be created to ensure that all BEAD Program funds (“every dollar of taxpayer money”) are used to expand access to broadband as quickly as possible.

In this episode of The Divide, broadband advocate Gigi Sohn returns to the podcast, on behalf of the Affordable Broadband Campaign (ABC), to discuss the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and how to get a version of the ACP back through Universal Service Fund (USF) reform.

Uncertainty breeds caution, especially when money itself costs more and is hard to get. But, with the $42 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) spigot set to turn on in about six months, deployments have actually slowed. Financing is indeed difficult, but not just because interest rates are high. The end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in May ended a guaranteed cashflow that investors and lenders liked.

It’s a familiar scene in communities across the nation: teenagers lingering outside fast-food restaurants and inside malls with laptops on their knees, surfing for free public Wi-Fi to be able to do their homework. Some 17 million students across the nation don’t have internet service at home, hampering their ability to study and complete assignments and prepare themselves for college and the workforce.

A quarter of U.S. households that relied on the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) to help pay for internet will drop their connections. That finding, along with others, was included in a recent Maravedis report, a market intelligence firm that has a focus on wireless infrastructure, multifamily connectivity, and smart technologies.

More than 70,000 Kansas households lack broadband access and over 35,000 additional households’ existing service options render them “underserved.” In addition, many of Kansas’ 8,500 community anchor institutions (CAIs) lack gigabit-level broadband service that would better allow them to provide full levels of support to their communities.