Level of Government

The Lifeline program and the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) serve a vital role in providing low-income Americans with affordable access to essential communication services. Between November 21 and December 8, 2022, the National Lifeline Association (NaLA) surveyed more than 60,000 customers who use the Lifeline and/or ACP program about who they are and how they use the programs. Survey results indicate that low-income consumers use Lifeline and/or ACP service to connect to family and to access other government programs, healthcare, jobs and online education.

With a big push nationwide to get customers enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), most broadband providers seem to have forgotten about the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program that can provide a monthly discount of $9.25 off a telephone or broadband bill for qualifying customers. Customers can qualify for both the ACP discount and Lifeline, meaning an ISP can collect a total subsidy of $39.25 for a qualifying customer. Any ISP that is participating in ACP in order to reach low-income households should consider the Lifeline discount as well.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded nine grants as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). These new grants, totaling more than $40.3 million, bring the total of the program to nearly $1.7 billion awarded to 130 Tribal entities.

In 2012, Governor John Hickenlooper (D-CO) charged the Colorado Office of Information Technology (OIT) with overseeing and coordinating broadband activity across state agencies. In 2016, OIT created the Colorado Broadband Office.

When the Federal Communications Commission's new broadband maps came out, we were quick to compare the number of unserved locations in the new maps to the number of unserved housing units in the previous Form 477 data. As expected, the number of unserved locations doubled, from 3.6 million to 7.8 million. But that comparison isn’t apples-to-apples.

Back in 1996, Congress amended the Communications Act to include antidiscrimination as part of American telecommunications policy.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Washington received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Connecticut received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is highlighting a variety of digital equity and inclusion activities occurring in 40 different city and county governments on the Digital Inclusion map on the BroadbandUSA website. The site includes local government digital equity and inclusion websites, leaders, coordinators, resources, and plans.

The Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications, Media and Broadband held a hearing examining ongoing and past efforts within the public and private sectors to bring affordable, resilient and secure broadband to all communities. Four witnesses testified during the hearing: