Affordable Connectivity Program Ends, ISPs Voluntarily Fill the Void

On June 1, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) officially came to an end, at least for now. Some hold out hope that Congress still might appropriate additional funding. In the meantime, Internet service providers (ISPs) have stepped in to make available to low-income households broadband service plans priced at or below $30 per month until at least the end of 2024.

Through April, the ACP provided to eligible households a $30 monthly subsidy ($75 on Tribal lands and, as I described in an August 2023 post to the FSF Blog, up to $75 in certain high-cost areas) that they could apply to their choice of broadband service plan offered by a participating provider. In May, the $14.2 billion appropriated by Congress in 2021's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was close to running out, so participating households received only a partial benefit.

In a press release marking the program's final day, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel noted that over 23 million households participated in the ACP; urged Congress to provide additional funding; and highlighted the Lifeline program, which offers a $9.25 monthly benefit to a smaller set of eligible households. For one, Lifeline limits eligibility to those households whose income is less than 135 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, a threshold that Free State Foundation President Randolph J. May urged Congress to adopt on numerous occasions, must recently in "The Conservative Case for Saving the Affordable Connectivity Program by Reforming It."

As the White House highlighted in its own press release, however, in the wake of the ACP's demise, fourteen ISPs have made voluntary commitments "to offer plans at $30 or less to low-income households through 2024, so that families across America can continue accessing low-cost Internet." That list includes AT&T, Comcast, Cox, Charter Communications, and Verizon, as well as a number of smaller ISPs that serve rural areas.