As Congress works to hash out a federal budget, the Federal Communications Commission is warning that the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides monthly subsidies to help American families pay for broadband services, will have to end unless it receives an additional influx of funding.
Federal emergency subsidies for broadband were established during the Covid-19 pandemic, when connectivity was particularly crucial for daily life and interactions. That Emergency Broadband Benefit program morphed into the ACP, which was established with more than $14 billion as part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—the largest internet affordability-focused program in U.S. history, according to the FCC.
But that funding is expected to run out completely in April, which would end the program for the nearly 23 million households who receive the subsidy, and the roughly 1,700 internet service providers who participate in the program.
The ACP provides a one-time benefit of $100 toward the purchase of a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet, and ongoing monthly broadband service subsidies of up to $30 for most households and up to $75 per month for Tribal households.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said that she had been urging Congress for months to allocate additional funding so that the ACP can continue and is hopeful that Congress will ultimately do so.
“The ACP is in jeopardy and, absent additional funding, we could lose the significant progress this program has made towards closing the digital divide,” Rosenworcel said in a letter to the chair of the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
But, the FCC said in a release, “With less than four months before the projected program end date and without any immediate additional funding, this week the Commission expects to begin taking steps to start winding down the program to give households, providers, and other stakeholders sufficient time to prepare.” Rosenworcel said that those include giving service providers information about how to communicate the end of the program to consumers, and determining a firm date for stopping new enrollments as well as a date for ending the ACP itself.
The Biden administration has requested an additional $6 billion for the ACP, which would extend the program through the end of this year. Congressional leaders reportedly reached a $1.66 trillion agreement Sunday to finance the federal government for this calendar year, but the legislation faces a tight deadline for passage in order to avert a government shutdown within the next couple of weeks.
