Low-income

With Affordable Connectivity Program enrollment picking up, we’ll need to address the longevity of the program’s funding before too long. We’re much better off addressing the issue quickly and with certainty—and there are three basic reasons why that is so. First, we must keep the millions of Americans who have signed up for the program secure in their access to broadband. Second, there are millions more who are eligible, and we need to get them signed up.

In August 2022,  we launched the first version of our Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) dashboard. The goal was to take the confusing and inaccessible federal data on program penetration, signups, and use, and create a tool useful for local governments, policymakers, and broadband advocates working to bring the benefit to as many households as possible. Now, we're back with a 2.0 version of the dashboard.

The math suggests that Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) funding will be depleted sometime in early 2024. That means the clock is ticking for the US government to move the needle in the coming months. "I think the biggest issue for the second half of this year is how that gets resolved," said Grant Spellmeyer, CEO of ACA Connects. He said the clock is running out when governors will be lavishing more attention on the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. But few have their eye on the ball. "The silence [about the ACP funding issue] has been notable," he said.

An oft-invoked pun in broadband policy circles is the exhortation to support a fiber-rich diet. But data indicate that actual dietary benefits may arise out of strong broadband connections. Several inquiries have explored the role of internet connectivity in resolving the adverse impacts of “food deserts,” namely, areas in which there is low availability of healthy foods. The underlying theory is that internet connectivity may enable users to identify retail sources of healthful foods more easily or to even order those foods online.

On March 1, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) sought public comment on the design and implementation of two components of the Digital Equity Act of 2021 (a part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act): the $1.44 billion State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program and the $1.25 billion Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program.

Over the past two years, millions of low-income US households have received broadband internet at a discount through two consecutive government programs. But they could soon lose that benefit. More than 16 million US households are currently enrolled in the federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) which offers a $30 discount on broadband services to qualifying low-income households.

Many residents of federally assisted multifamily—also called affordable rental—housing lack access to broadband service and face persistent challenges in getting a connection.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 includes a historic investment of $65 billion to help close the digital divide and ensure that everyone in America has access to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service. The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is responsible for distributing more than $48 billion in funding through several different programs.

The Federal Communications Commission is an important institution. It oversees a huge input to our information economy: Spectrum. Fortunately, three decades ago, we developed a method for allocating spectrum that has garnered bipartisan praise, been copied around the world, underlaid two Nobel prizes, and is arguably the most successful communications policy innovation ever. Unfortunately, Congress can’t decide how to reauthorize that auction authority. Congressional dysfunction? Alas, not weird. The stakes are high: billions in investment capital, 10x more in economic impact.

Three things we are doing at the Federal Communications Commission right now to help get us to the next generation of innovation around the globe.