Low-income

With over 23 million households relying on the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) to financially support their connection to…well, everything…it is jarring to think the program may soon no longer exist. Losing this broadband subsidy program will force families to make hard choices and will likely lead to many losing connectivity altogether.  With the value of a network based upon its ability to connect everyone, this is not a good result for our country. Worse yet, a lack of ACP fu

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) was established to address one of the contributing factors to the US digital divide—monthly affordability of services. The initial $14 billion that once sounded like a generous investment toward these concerns is now expected to run out. After a year of predictions that high enrollments would lead to this moment, Congress has finally started to take notice.

On January 9, the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation and ConnectRI initiative released the draft Rhode Island Digital Equity Plan for public comment. Through this plan, the Commerce Corporation is working to ensure that investment in digital equity efforts produces wholistic results—including widespread digital literacy and access to necessary devices as well as affordable, reliable, fast connectivity.

Today, the doors are closing on the most successful broadband affordability program in U.S. history—the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)—despite the ACP’s overwhelming support from voters, advocates, industry, state officials, and Members of Congress. The ACP was created so that financial hardship would never be a barrier to internet access. If you lost your job one day, the ACP meant you could still look for work the next. No distance could keep you from your doctor, your teacher, or your loved ones.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which subsidizes broadband for low-income households, will officially stop accepting new enrollments after February 7, as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gears up for the popular program to run out of funds this May.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) will freeze enrollment today (February 7, 2024) because funds are running out for this enormously effective federal program that helps people pay their internet bills.

The Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), established in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is expected to end this Spring if it does not receive additional funding from Congress soon. The funding situation is so dire that this week the FCC halted any new enrollments in the program. For millions of people eligible for the ACP, affordable broadband service is getting harder to obtain.

The draft New Hampshire Digital Equity Plan was created with partnership and collaboration at its core, as a joint effort between the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, the National Collaborative for Digital Equity (NCDE), and the Digital Equity Research Center at the Metropolitan New York Library Council.

As part of the President’s Investing in America agenda, the Biden-Harris Administration has made historic progress towards lowering costs—including internet costs—for American families across the country.

Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez, who joined the agency in September 2023, said that her top priorities for the FCC include setting the stage for vibrant competition and promoting connectivity for every consumer. Key to that connectivity is making spectrum available, which the Commissioner said is an area of top importance.