Understanding Broadband Affordability
Federal Efforts
Since 2021, Benton Senior Fellow, John B. Horrigan, PhD, has written extensively about federal broadband benefit programs—Lifeline and the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)—and how they help close the digital divide. Dr. Horrigan’s research shows that the ACP provided benefits that far outweigh the program’s costs and proved these subsidies get and keep more people online—in households where connectivity is needed most.
The Affordable Connectivity Program Enrollment Performance Tool
The Tool was designed to help communities answer the question: “How are Affordable Connectivity Program sign-ups going?” The Tool includes risk scores for zip codes that indicate which areas had higher susceptibility of service disconnection when the ACP ended. The final update to ACP enrollment data occurred in February 2024.
Budgeting for Broadband: What Losing the ACP Means to Household Budgets and Behavior, John Horrigan (July 2025)
Marking Progress, Targeting Gaps: Lessons from Broadband Adoption Trends, John Horrigan (June 2025)
One More Thing: The ACP Boosted Rural Adoption and Helped Keep the Subscription Vulnerable Online, John Horrigan (Apr 2025)
Leaving Money on the Table: The ACP's Expiration Means Billions in Lost Savings, John Horrigan (July 2024)
The Affordable Connectivity Program Creates Benefits that Far Outweigh the Program's Costs, John Horrigan (March 2024)
Are We There Yet? Affordability, Adoption, Equity, and the United States’s Universal Broadband Goals, John Horrigan (Dec 2023)
ACP Uptake is Strongest in Places Where It's Needed Most, John Horrigan (Dec 2023)
Broadband Benefit Programs are Helping to Close the Digital Divide, John Horrigan (Nov 2022)
Reimagining Lifeline: Universal Service, Affordability, and Connectivity, John Horrigan (Feb 2022)
State Efforts
In the absence of federal leadership, state governments are working to ensure that every household can afford to get and stay connected.
Some state governments have long prioritized broadband affordability, while others are only now stepping in to fill the vacuum left by Washington with the expiration of the Affordable Connectivity Program.
In this 2025 report, Achieving Affordability: State Strategies for Getting Everyone Online, author Jordan Arnold outlines the multiple viable paths that states can take to overcome the chief barrier to achieving universal connectivity.
