Affordability/Cost/Price

This 26-year-old federal fund evolved to fight the ‘digital divide.’ Now a court might throw it out.

Over the past 26 years, the Universal Service Fund — a federal subsidy pool collected monthly from American telephone customers — has spent close to $9 billion a year to give Americans better phone and internet connections, wiring rural communities in Arkansas, inner-city neighborhoods in Chicago, and public libraries and schools across the country. Now it faces the biggest crisis of its existence, and Congress appears paralyzed in the effort to fix it.

A Different Kind of Broadband Investor: Partners Aim to Provide BEAD Matching Funds

Two non-traditional investors are partnering to provide Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) matching funds and to directly invest in broadband for communities that do not win government grants. One of the entities is Connect Humanity, a non-profit fund focused on digital equity.

FCC Announces Second Round of ACP Outreach Grant Program Awards

The Federal Communications Commission announced final funding allocations for the Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program (ACP Outreach Grant Program), National Competitive Outreach Program (NCOP) Round 2. The total amount of final funds announced for NCOP Round 2 is over $4.3 million.

Different perspectives on open access networks

At Mountain Connect, a panel discussed some of the pros and cons of open access networks. These networks are deployed by one company and then leased to multiple internet service providers, which can then offer broadband service to end customers. Jack Waters, CEO of Intrepid Fiber Networks, said open access networks give consumers a choice of providers. “The idea of choice is incredibly powerful,” he said. “It’s not something you ever got in telecom.” He also said that building open access networks can make things less disruptive for communities.

45 Bipartisan Members of Congress Call for Extension of Affordable Broadband Access Program

We are writing to urge [Congressional leadership] to extend funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides families with financial assistance for broadband access, to help bridge the digital divide. Congress has a role in ensuring that high-speed and reliable broadband is accessible to every household, nationwide. We urge you to include full funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in the upcoming government appropriations bill to ensure that households can access the broadband they desperately need.

The Power of Digital Navigators – Retail-Style

In May 2021, the Federal Communications Commission launched the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) to help Americans stay connected to reliable Internet service during the COVID pandemic. Since evolving into the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), the program has connected nearly 20 million households nationwide. But despite the program’s success, millions remain unconnected because cost is not the only barrier to getting online. Additional barriers include access to devices, digital literacy skills, and ongoing technical support.

The Transformative Power of the Affordable Connectivity Program

The federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) announced a new milestone. Launched nearly two years ago in 2021, it has now connected more than 20 million households to the Internet. This is a remarkable achievement and we at Comcast are proud to participate in the program.

Your State Needs Broadband Legislative Champions. Just Ask Louis Riggs

In 2016, representatives from the northern region of Missouri met in Brookfield to talk about the issues they were facing.  Stakeholders of all kinds—economic developers, USDA employees, elected officials, county commissioners, and mayors—from every county north of I-70 complained bitterly about everything their communities were going without. As the meeting progressed, five topics were written on a board, five ways to find solutions to these communities’ needs. Broadband was listed as number one. The attendees never got to number two.

An Assessment of the Affordable Connectivity Program: Keep it, Scrap it, or Modify it?

The Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program has the potential to be a socioeconomic equalizer that helps close the gap between those Americans with access to broadband and those without. So far, the ACP has proven remarkably effective at making that happen. Despite only existing for over a year and a half, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) calculates that nearly 20 million people have already enrolled in the program at a cost of just $14.2 billion in funding.

More than 20 million Americans enrolled in a federal program for subsidized internet access

More than 20 million US households are now receiving discounts on internet service as part of Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program. The program has continued to gain more than half a million new households a month since February 2023.

In Letter to House Speaker McCarthy, Biden Administration Notes Need for Additional Funding for Affordable Broadband

With the end of the fiscal year quickly approaching,  the Administration is transmitting a supplemental funding request to the Congress to address three sets of critical needs for emergency funding as part of a potential short-term continuing resolution for the first quarter of FY 2024: assistance for Ukraine and other foreign policy priorities, US disaster assistance, and border security.

Ting launches 2-gigabit fiber internet in Colorado Springs (CO)

Ting Internet's (a division of Tucows) 2-gigabit fiber internet is now available in initial Colorado Springs (CO) neighborhoods. Customers in Colorado Springs will now be able to sign up for Ting's 2-gigabit fiber internet for $89 per month, providing both download and upload speeds of 2,000 megabits per second (Mbps). Ting will also offer 2-gigabit symmetrical internet to all Colorado Springs residents who qual

Challenges to Achieving Digital Equity or “Why Covered Populations Are Covered”

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Digital Equity Act recognizes eight “covered populations” as disproportionately experiencing digital inequity. One group is individuals living in households with incomes at or below 150 percent of the poverty line.  In the United States, people living in poverty tend to be clustered in certain regions, counties, and neighborhoods rather than evenly spread across the nation. Research has shown that living in areas where poverty is prevalent creates impediments beyond people’s individual circumstances.

More Than 20 Million Households Enroll in Nation's Largest Broadband Affordability Program

More than 20 million households have enrolled in the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), the nation’s largest broadband affordability program. Thanks to funding support in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, millions of families who previously could not get online or struggled to pay for this modern-day necessity are now connected. “For a long time, closing the digital divide focused on one part of the equation—the lack of physical infrastructure to get online.

Albuquerque (NM) now has a broadband office

For the city of Albuquerque (NM), providing high-quality and affordable internet is a priority. The majority of households are connected, but that doesn’t mean everybody that needs it has it and it doesn’t mean it’s affordable or reliable. Albuquerque needs more competition, more providers, better infrastructure to fill in the gaps and more affordable options. What the broadband office is dong to fill in those gaps is:

Enabling Equity: Why Universal Broadband Access Rates Matter

In the third decade of the 21st century, getting online is no longer optional, and providing financial assistance to US households that can’t afford broadband should be as much a given as food stamps. More broadly, from a macro perspective, high rates of broadband use benefit society and the economy; and from a micro perspective, those least likely to be online are those who would in many ways benefit most from it. In both cases, broadband policy should prioritize connecting remaining offline households in order to achieve universal connectivity.

FCC Announces Key Dates for Affordable Connectivity Program Transparency Data Collection

On November 15, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission adopted a Report and Order establishing the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Transparency Data Collection to collect information related to the price, subscription rates, and plan characteristics of the internet service offerings of participating providers, as required by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Assessing Broadband Affordability Initiatives

The basic tenet of universal internet service—that the government should assist those who cannot afford basic access to the network—has long been a cornerstone of American telecommunications policy. Unfortunately, it is far from clear whether Lifeline, the federal program tasked with getting low-income households online, actually addresses this problem. The recently enacted Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) threatens to compound Lifeline’s errors. The advent of ACP provides a unique opportunity to rethink our approach to broadband affordability initiatives.

Wyoming Seeks Feedback on Digital Access Plan

The Wyoming Broadband Office (WBO), part of the Wyoming Business Council, made its draft Digital Access Plan available to the public on July 18, 2023, and is allowing one month for residents to submit their feedback. The draft plan includes a vision for digital equity for the state, a set of goals to activate that vision within Wyoming’s Digital Access program, current assets and barriers, and an implementation plan to achieve the goals and address the barriers identified.

What's a High-Cost Area for BEAD and ACP?

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act directed the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to determine how much each state is to receive in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding based on the number of locations in their state unserved by high-speed internet service. One component in the allocation is a determination of the number of “high cost” unserved locations in each state divided by the nationwide total of high-cost unserved locations. Congress also tasked NTIA with defining what “high-cost areas” are.

FCC commits $46 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program

The Federal Communications Commission committed $46.3 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program, which provides digital tools and services to support students in communities across the country. The funding supports applications from the third application window, benefitting approximately 125,000 students nationwide, including students in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington. The funding will support approximately 250 schools and school districts, 13 libraries and library systems, and 2 consortia.

Chairwoman Rosenworcel's Response to Members of Congress Regarding GAO Report on Performance Goals and Measures

In January 2023, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) publicly released a report which makes nine recommendations to assist the Federal Communications Commission  enhance the Affordable Connectivity Program’s (ACP) performance goals and measures, language translation process, consumer outreach plan, and various processes for managing fraud risk. The FCC  has undertaken an aggressive and robust corrective plan to address and resolve each of GAO’s nine recommendations.

Communities Know Communities Best: Michigan's Digital Equity Plan

In July 2023, the Michigan High-Speed Internet (MIHI) Office released the state's draft Digital Equity Plan. The state outlines how it will work to bring broadband to its residents–and the opportunities that come with high-speed internet access.

FCC Adopts Order To Provide Up To $75 Monthly Broadband Subsidy For Consumers Living In Qualifying High-Cost Areas Through Affordable Connectivity Program

The Federal Communications Commission adopted an order to provide an up-to-$75 monthly broadband benefit for subscribers living in qualifying high-cost areas through the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), as directed by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Infrastructure Act specified that the $75 monthly benefit would support providers that can demonstrate that the standard $30 monthly benefit would cause them to experience “particularized economic hardship” such that they would be unable to maintain part or all of their broadband network in a high-cost area.