Low-income

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development's (DHCD) Office of Broadband released its draft Digital Opportunity Plan to the public. The plan is a first-of-its-kind undertaking to assess all facets of the digital divide in the Commonwealth and develop a strategy to close it.

Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez and Stephen Baldwin, Senior Advisor to the President, spoke about the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program at an event hosted by the Information Technology Institute in Washington DC. “We want to make sure that every user is connected to the internet, it is so important for participation in society, in our economy,” Commissioner Gomez said.

Enrollment for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) has frozen, as of 11:59 pm on February 7, according to the website for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), but advocates like Gigi Sohn believe that momentum is on their side to keep the program alive. Sohn, the American Association for Public Broadband’s executive director, has been a leading voice to keep the program, which provides subsidies for nearly 23 million Americans to help pay for broadband services.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program, which helps low-income families pay for home internet services, will end without Congressional action. The program, known as the ACP, stopped enrolling new applicants on February 7, and funding for all participants will run out by May.

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.