Low-income

Lawmakers are butting heads over a provision within the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program that allows states to require low-cost service options from participating service providers. Democrats are calling it an affordability policy. Republicans say it's heavy-handed government regulation. As part of the BEAD planning process, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is considering each state’s definition of a low-cost option, provided that it meets the standards laid out in the program’s statute.

On May 16, 2024, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appeared before the House of Representatives Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee to review the Federal Communications Commission’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget request. The Chairwoman highlighted some of the FCC's critical work, including the National Broadband Map and efforts to stop robocalls. She also emphasized the need for the FCC's spectrum auction authority to be reinstated, and spoke about the impending end of the Affordable Connectivity Program.

Digital equity cannot be fully realized without the participation of educational institutions, including K-12 public schools, community colleges, historically black and other minority serving colleges and universities, and extension programs. Many state digital equity plans embrace education and potential collaborations with educational institutions. All states acknowledge that digital equity is critical to education.

The Affordability Connectivity Program, a federal program that helped lower-income households pay their Internet bills and connect to the Internet, fully expires at the end of May, but Rep Kathy Manning (D-NC) is calling for it to continue. Rep Manning enlisted Guilford County and Rockingham County schools superintendents and State Senator Michael Garrett (D-27), to help make the case. Rockingham County Superintendent John Stover said the school district invested effort and dollars, alongside other partners, toward expanding infrastructure for families to access the Internet in the county.

Sen Ted Cruz (R-TC) will propose plans May 16 to maintain the Affordable Connectivity Program in a slimmed-down new form.

Though telehealth has the potential to significantly expand healthcare access, social determinants of health (SDOH) challenges like housing insecurity can hinder this access, depriving already vulnerable populations of much-needed healthcare services.

Mediacom has increased the download speeds of two of its service tiers and introduced a new plan aimed at economically challenged households that could be a low-cost option for households losing their Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) benefit. The service provider’s Xtream Internet 100 will become Xtream Internet 250, with download speeds increasing from 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) to 250 Mbps. The Xtream Internet 300 tier will become Xtream Internet 500, with download speeds increasing from 300 Mbps to 500 Mbps. The switch will be flipped on the higher download speeds on May 17.

The cable industry hasn’t been doing too great with keeping broadband subscribers, and Charter is no different. CEO Chris Winfrey’s take on the situation?

Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) led 121 of her colleagues in a bipartisan letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging them to include funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program in legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). “We write today to express our serious concern regarding the impending lapse of funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

As lawmakers debate funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program, a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation that would change the program in an effort to win more support for it and possibly improve its long-term viability. A group of senators introduced legislation that would revise eligibility criteria, among other things. The compromise is seen as necessary to win over skeptics of the program.