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A federal program that helps Michigan’s 937,000 households pay their internet bills has frozen new applications and could end this spring.
Established in 2021, the $14 billion Affordable Connectivity Program provides discounted internet to 22 million low-income households across the country. However, the one-time funding allocation is expected to run out in April, with only partial support available in May.
“The bipartisan Infrastructure Act created this program. It is the largest effort in our history to make broadband affordable across the country, but we is now on the brink of losing that success.” “Cutting millions of families off from jobs, schools, markets, and information is not the answer. We have gone too far with ACP and there is no turning back.”
Related: Living in an “internet black hole” is tough. 1,100 miles of fiber could help.
The program provides eligible households with $30 a month in internet service and up to $75 a month for households living on tribal land.
But facing a funding cliff, the FCC began scaling back the program.
The Affordable Connectivity Program closed applications this week. Households enrolled in the program can only receive discounted services through their internet provider until funds run out. Internet companies then began notifying households about the planned end of the program. Further notifications will be sent during the last month when funds are paid in full.
According to research from BroadbandNow, approximately 42 million Americans lack access to broadband internet, due in part to infrastructure gaps. But nearly one-third of Americans who don’t have broadband say it’s because the internet is too expensive, the U.S. General Accounting Office reports.
The Biden administration says the disparities impact “underserved communities, rural areas, veterans, and older Americans.” About half of the households enrolled in the Affordable Connections program are military families. 4 million people are elderly. And about half are African American and Latino households.
Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, which includes the city of Detroit, has the highest number, with nearly half of households registered, according to White House data.
“More funding is available at this time to ensure we can maintain ACP, continue to support households that rely on ACP, and reach out to other households who may be on the other side of the digital divide.” This is urgently needed,” Rosenworcel wrote. A letter to Congressional leaders last month.
Related: 70,000 Michigan homes and businesses now have high-speed internet access
The Biden administration is requesting an additional $6 billion to keep the program running through the end of 2024. Two bills introduced in January would provide $7 billion in Treasury funds for the program.
In a letter to Rosenworcel, four Republican senators questioned how many people would lose access to the internet if the program were repealed. They argue that “the bulk of the tax money appears to have gone to households that already had broadband before the subsidy.”
Tom Ferry, CEO of Connected Nation, a nonprofit that expands access to broadband internet, said it was “unacceptable” to let the program lapse.
“This important program will significantly lower monthly internet bills for millions of struggling Americans and is a critical lifeline for online job and education opportunities, but Congress needs to act. If we don’t wake it up, it will suddenly disappear later this spring,” he said in a statement.
The Biden administration also created the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program last year, which invests $42 billion in high-speed internet. Michigan received $1.5 billion from this program to develop broadband infrastructure and connect 200,000 homes and businesses to the Internet.
Read more of MLive’s statewide coverage
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