Joe Supan

Former Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) enrollees have had to make a number of compromises to keep their internet on since it ended a year ago. A January survey from the National Lifeline Association found that nearly 40% of people enrolled in the program said they had to reduce spending on food to afford their new internet bill. 41% cut back on necessities like clothing, heat and doctor’s visits.

President Donald Trump turned his sights to the little-known Digital Equity Act, calling the program “racist” and “unconstitutional” in a post on his social media site Truth Social, vowing to end the program “immediately.” “Immediate” turned out to be the very next day, when states and nonprofits began receiving notices that said their grants had been terminated. “As the President determined and as Secretary Lutnick agreed,” the Act uses “impermissible and unconstitutional racial preferences.” President Trump referred to the Digital Equity Act as “woke handouts based on race,” but the act <

Republicans haven't passed up many opportunities to criticize the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program for its slow rollout over the past few years. Now they're adding on another 90 days of delays. In a notice sent to state broadband offices, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration gave states a blanket 90-day extension to submit their final proposals for BEAD money.

Higher prices have come for your internet bill—at least it feels that way for many. That’s according to a new CNET survey that found 63 percent of US adults paying for home internet saw their prices increase last year. On average, they paid $195 more last year than they did the year before. Price hikes didn’t necessarily translate to better service, either. More than half of people who saw their bills increase said they still experienced unreliable connectivity. The survey results come at a fraught moment for the broadband industry in the US.

Millions of Black Americans have been impacted by the digital divide, the gulf between people who have access to any internet at all and those who don't.

Shopping for home internet just got a little easier. In April, the Federal Communications Commission launched an initiative to simplify internet shopping.

When millions of Americans cast their ballots on Election Day, the Affordable Connectivity Program won't be up for a vote, but the results could dictate whether we see an internet subsidy of its size again. The ACP was passed in 2021 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, when Congress dedicated $14.2 billion to making the internet more affordable to low-income users.

More than nine out of 10 American households now have an internet subscription, according to new Census data released on Sep 12. That's a significant leap forward from the 76.7% the Census Bureau reported in 2015. When you dig into the census numbers, it becomes clear that the majority of new internet subscribers came from the lowest income groups.

In May, the $14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity Program officially ran out of money, leaving 23 million households with internet bills that were $30 to $75 higher than the month before. That's if they decided to hang on to their internet service at all: 13% of ACP subscribers, or roughly 3 million households, said that after the program ended they planned to cancel service, according to a Benton Institute survey

For as long as the internet has existed, there’s been a gap between those who have access to it—and the means to afford it—and those who don’t. The vast majority of federal broadband spending over the past two decades has gone toward expanding internet access to rural areas. Only $14.2 billion went to making the internet more affordable through the Affordable Connectivity Program.