Federal Broadband Programs

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) provides the primary subsidy available to cover broadband subscription costs for low-income households, but only 1 in 4 eligible households have enrolled in the ACP since it launched in 2021.

While I think that fixed wireless technology can efficiently serve all communities, this is especially true for rural communities, because fixed wireless is high-speed, reliable, and perhaps most importantly, can be deployed quickly. Rural America needs access to high-speed and reliable technologies today, not years from now, in order to remain competitive in our nation’s economy.

Congress should extend the worthwhile Affordability Connectivity Program (ACP) promptly by appropriating additional funding. At the same time, it can consider revising the program to better target the ACP benefit to those lower-income households most truly in need and adopting measures to minimize, to the extent possible, any waste, fraud, and abuse in the program. The ACP represents one-half of the federal government's push to make it possible for every American to access a high-speed Internet connection.

Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority Executive Director Brandon Carson is asking Pennsylvanians to provide input on the stakeholder engagement process for developing two plans: the State Digital Equity Plan and the Commonwealth’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Five-Year Action Plan. The two-week public comment period began on February 27 and ends Friday, March 10, 2023. The State Digital Equity Stakeholder Engagement Plan will focus on engaging eight primary populations required through federal guidance – aging individuals, incarcerated individuals, veterans, indivi

The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) has extended the deadline for Wave Three of the Connect New Mexico Pilot Program (“Pilot Program”). The application period will close on April 3, 2023. The Pilot Program aims to bridge the digital divide and foster socioeconomic progress by providing infrastructure grants for broadband deployment to unserved and underserved communities across New Mexico. The $123 million pilot program is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARPA) Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF).

AARP Arkansas and ARConnect, the state’s broadband office, are teaming up to bridge the digital divide in the Natural State. Glen Howie, state broadband director, attended AARP Arkansas’ Advocacy Team meeting to provide a deeper dive into broadband infrastructure deployment and how it will benefit Arkansans.

An effort to boost awareness of the year-old Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is getting more local after earlier attempts to promote it statewide resulted in just 23% of eligible Colorado households signing up to get up to $30 off their internet bills. To get the rest of the 77% signed up, state officials feel that the campaign needs to go analog and provide help right in local libraries, schools, and community centers.

With Affordable Connectivity Program enrollment picking up, we’ll need to address the longevity of the program’s funding before too long. We’re much better off addressing the issue quickly and with certainty—and there are three basic reasons why that is so. First, we must keep the millions of Americans who have signed up for the program secure in their access to broadband. Second, there are millions more who are eligible, and we need to get them signed up.

The US Department of the Treasury announced the approval of broadband projects in South Carolina under the Capital Projects Fund (CPF) in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The state estimates it will use its funding to connect over 31,000 homes and businesses to affordable, high-speed internet—representing 23% of locations still lacking high-speed internet access..

President Joe Biden’s administration has set an ambitious goal to deliver Internet for All using $42.5 billion in funding from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. It’s not entirely clear how realistic that goal is.