Low-income

The future of affordable broadband internet access is uncertain for 1 in 6 households across Missouri as the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) runs out of funding. Launched in December 2021, the ACP allows households that qualify to save up to $30 a month on their internet bill. The program also helps households obtain technology, such as laptops and other computers. 394,043 Missouri households are currently enrolled in the program. But that number could soon drop to zero as funding for the program is running out.

Recently, we surveyed over 1,700 Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) enrollees who use the Providers app about what the broadband benefit has meant to them and how their lives will change if it expires. Here’s what we found:

State broadband offices are asking internet service providers interested in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding to self-fund a $30 discount for low-income customers after the end of Affordable Connectivity Program. Since this request came from multiple states, I have to imagine the idea came from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. I can’t think of any better proof that policymakers are out of touch with the reality of rural business plans. Even providers that are successful in rural markets are going to have small margins.

This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced the latest window to receive applications for Rural eConnectivity (ReConnect) Program support to extend broadband networks in rural areas.

February 8 marked the Affordable Connectivity Program’s enrollment freeze as the Federal Communications Commission prepares for it to run out of money in April. This is happening as ACP hit a major milestone—connecting 23 million households to get affordable, reliable access to America’s Excellent Internet. New stats from the White House show the true scope of the ACP’s impact:

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) exists to help Americans of all stripes get and stay connected to America’s Excellent Internet. But for millions around the country, Internet access and a device alone aren’t enough to close the digital divide. Digital skills and tech support services offered through a trusted community organization is critical to solving this puzzle—just ask  US Army veteran Bobby Jenks. After leaving the service as a decorated peacetime soldier, Bobby worked as a truck driver for 20 years until an accident left him unable to continue his trucking career.

A group of lawmakers is making a major push to extend a key internet subsidy program in their upcoming government spending talks, part of a last-ditch effort to head off a lapse in funding. In recent days, top Democratic lawmakers and officials at the Federal Communications Commission have held numerous rallies calling for the $14 billion Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP, to receive a new round of appropriations from Congress. The ACP “allowed some 23 million low-income households to receive discounts on their internet bills of up to $30 a month,” or higher for tribal lands.

North Carolina is moving forward with a digital equity grant program to bring broadband access into more underserved homes, as part of a larger mission to have all of these homes connected to the Internet by 2029. The North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Office of Digital Equity and Literacy will award $14 million in grants to community organizations such as local nonprofits, libraries, educational institutions and others.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) well is about to run dry, but some analysts remain hopeful that the program may be able to secure additional funding. As the saying goes: it ain't over till it's over. To be sure, the odds are still favoring ACP funds running out, New Street Research’s Blair Levin said.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) helps 23 million American households afford the internet. But on February 8, the program began winding down due to a lack of funding. New households no longer can enroll. Soon, current households will confront a choice between bill shock and disconnection. We cannot let this happen. The ACP is the most effective program we’ve had in helping low-income Americans get online and stay online. Indeed, it has been the most successful program ever in our decades-long bipartisan effort to solve the digital divide.