Legislation

Michigan is once again leading the country with its innovation. This time, however, the innovation isn’t new technology—but a funding strategy that would catalyze new technologies, and ensure access to jobs, healthcare, education, and government services are available and accessible in perpetuity.

On May 30, ACA Connects President and CEO Grant Spellmeyer wrote to Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Alan Davidson to urge the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to make sure small and medium-sized wireline broadband providers have a fair opportunity to compete in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program (BEAD).

Astound is the latest service provider to announce a low-income ACP (Affordable Connectivity Program) replacement service.

In the world of rural broadband, all eyes are on the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program as individual states continue to assemble their plans. NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association CEO Shirley Bloomfield believes that BEAD has interesting potential for her members, while acknowledging that there are some wrinkles that need to be ironed out.

May 31st is the final day that households will receive any benefit from the Affordable Connectivity Program on their internet bills. Without Congressional action to extend funding for the program, millions of households are now at risk of losing their internet connections.

Today, the bipartisan Affordable Connectivity Program expires.  This will cause real harm to millions of Americans.  ACP is the most effective program we have ever had in closing the digital divide.  Over 23 million households enrolled in ACP, realizing the benefits of affordable, high-speed broadband.  And now we are leaving them behind. Let’s put that 23 million in context.  That’s one in six households in the country.  Millions of veterans, seniors, families of color, and households with children.

On May 31, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote to Congressional leaders to provide an update on the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Due to the expiration of funding, the FCC ended the ACP on May 31, 2024. Chairwoman Rosenworcel acknowledged some of the groups that will be impacted, including seniors, veterans, school-aged children, and Tribal households. The Chairwoman also detailed the steps the FCC has taken to help households adjust to the end of the ACP.

Broadband industry groups are asking a federal appeals court to scuttle the Federal Communications Commission's new disclosure obligations on telecommunications companies that suffer data breaches. The agency specifically required companies to notify consumers, federal law enforcement agencies and the agency about all breaches—even “inadvertent” ones—that expose personally identifiable information, including sensitive financial information. The broadband lobbying groups argue that Congress stripped the FCC of authority to issue the new regulations.

The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Economics and Analytics released data related to the price, subscription rates, and plan characteristics of the internet service offerings of participating providers in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), as required by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.  These data were collected through the ACP Transparency Data Collection and are available for download on the FCC’s website at https://www.fcc.gov/affordable-connectivity-program.

The late Congressman John Lewis once prophetically noted that “access to the Internet is the civil rights issue of the 21st century.” In the long struggle to recognize Lewis’ vision and close America’s digital divide, civil rights advocates have repeatedly reminded policymakers of one central truth: progress is measured by results, not good intentions. In 2015, for example, the Federal Communications Commission modernized Lifeline—a decades-old program that had long helped low-income households obtain phone service—to apply to internet service as well. But restrictions blocked customers of