The Affordable Connectivity Program helps 23 million American households get internet access. But on February 8, the program began to wind down due to lack of funding.
New households are currently unable to join. Soon, today’s households will have to choose between price shock and disconnection. We cannot allow this to happen.
The Affordable Connectivity Program, enacted in the bipartisan Infrastructure Act, connects low-income households to high-quality Internet access services, often for free. Americans in all 50 states use the service, from 130,000 households in my home state of Kansas to 1.1 million households in Ohio to 270,000 households in Nevada.
These households live in rural areas and urban centres. In fact, the program exceeded local enrollment expectations. They also live on tribal lands. They include young learners, grandparents, and everyone in between.
Simply put, the Affordable Connectivity Program is the most effective program in helping low-income Americans get online and stay online. In fact, it is the most successful program to date in a decades-long bipartisan effort to solve the digital divide.
But affordable connectivity programs are in jeopardy. Without additional funding from Congress, the program will run out of funding as early as April.
This means millions of Americans will no longer have access to affordable broadband. As soon as the funds run out, these low-income households’ monthly internet bills will skyrocket. I think a lot of them won’t be able to stay connected.
Nationally, 49 percent of these households are “contract vulnerable.” This means that it is very difficult to fit the internet into your monthly budget and you are always on the verge of disconnection. Few states offer affordable internet programs that these households can rely on. While some states may step in and try to create one, others do not, and state efforts are unlikely to match the scale of affordable connectivity programs, much less reach full implementation in just a few months. That is impossible.
All that remains is the philanthropy of Internet service providers. Many of them have agreed to partner with affordable connectivity programs to create lower-cost plans, but there is no business case for keeping 23 million households connected for free without federal help. No wonder Internet service providers themselves are seeking funding for this program.
Removing internet connectivity could radically change the fate of these families. For example, nearly a quarter of her teens who live in households with an annual income of less than $30,000 say they sometimes fail to complete homework due to a lack of reliable computer or Internet access.
Internet access also increases employment and income for low-income users. Access to telehealth services increases access to care and reduces costs.
These studies show that today, Internet access is essential to almost every part of life. It also shows that connectivity is often needed most when families can’t afford broadband (for example, when changing jobs or experiencing health concerns).
The broader impact of ending the Affordable Connectivity Program will not only be felt by individual households. It would handcuff the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, the largest investment this country has ever made in broadband infrastructure.
The program spent $42.5 billion to build new networks that would reach millions of previously unserved or underserved households, primarily in rural areas. But without affordable connectivity programs, broadband equity access and deployment funding will remain as far out of reach as possible. Affordable connectivity programs reduce the risk and cost of building into these rural homes because more of the serviceable population can afford to enroll.
A recent study concluded that affordable connectivity programs would reduce the subsidies needed to incentivize building in rural areas by a whopping 25%. This program allows states to invest more money and connect more rural homes. Without it, they can’t.
I’m happy to say that there is hope. The program’s widespread adoption has prompted calls from across the country to restore funding.
President Biden has asked Congress to fund the program as part of his budget. A bipartisan group of 26 governors and 174 mayors also urged Congress to do so.
Support within Congress itself is bipartisan and bicameral. The Affordable Connections Program Extension Act provides $7 billion to restore funding to the program and has Democratic and Republican sponsors in both the House and Senate. The Senate Republican sponsor was part of a group of eight Republican senators who advocated for the continuation of the program as early as June 2023.
President Biden said this just a few weeks ago in North Carolina.[high]- High-speed internet is no longer a luxury, but an absolute necessity. ”
Closing the digital divide means opening opportunities for everyone, including the millions of Americans who can’t afford or don’t have access to broadband. At this pivotal moment, we cannot go back.
Jeffrey Starks is a member of the Federal Communications Commission.
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