ACA Connects

Broadband markets in the United States are by and large competitive today, and the trends indicate that competition is becoming more widespread. Federal Communications Commission data show that the share of US households that have access to multiple providers of fast broadband is already very large and is increasing rapidly.

ACA Connects Chairman Patricia Jo Boyers, Vice Chair Mike Bowker and President and CEO Matthew Polka announced their plan initiated by Polka to make a leadership change in July 2022. The collective’s goal is to prepare and position the organization for success amid rapid technology developments and expansive legislative and policy challenges. “I have been blessed every day to lead ACA Connects, but after 25 years I believe it is time to pass on the privilege of leadership for the healthy growth and future success of the organization,” Polka said.

ACA Connects alerted the Federal Communications Commission of potential misconduct among some Emergency Broadband Benefit Program providers. ACA Connects says some participating providers are performing a large and growing number of benefit transfers without the household’s apparent knowledge or intent.

Although gigabit availability has increased by 50 percent over the last three years, households that lack 100/20 Mbps service have declined by only 3 percentage points over the same period. In addition to households known to be unserved to the Federal Communications Commission, there are an additional estimated 8.2 million households in census blocks reported as “served” that do not have broadband service available. Approximately 12 million households in total, inclusive of these 8.2 million households, do not have access to a baseline level of service.

A large contingent of ACA Connects member companies is on track to participate in the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program from the day it launches. More than 100 members have expressed interest and completed necessary steps to join the program.

ACA Connects and EducationSuperHighway announced they are partnering in support of the “K-12 Bridge to Broadband” initiative to connect students with online learning.

The Mozilla court remanded to the Federal Communications Commission for further consideration the impact of the Restoring Internet Freedom Order on broadband providers’ ability to obtain pole attachments.

To evaluate how our members’ DOCSIS (Hybrid Fiber-Coax) and Fiber to the Home (FTTH) networks’ performed during the emergency, ACA Connects retained the strategy consulting firm, Cartesian, to perform an in-depth analysis. Cartesian found that despite the surge in Internet usage, our members’ networks continue to provide the same high-quality experience their customers have come to depend on. During the COVID-19 pandemic: