Breaking a Lifeline to the Internet

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stopped accepting applications for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a pandemic-era discount for qualified low-income households to obtain reliable and quality broadband service. As of January 1st, over 23 million households were enrolled in the program.

Funding is expected to run out in April, months before the original projected end date. In January, the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act was introduced by a bipartisan and bicameral group of members of Congress. The bill would infuse the program with $7 billion, a billion more than the Biden administration requested in 2023, and keep the ACP afloat until the end of 2024.

The ACP is the continuation of a pandemic-era broadband relief program, the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB), which was passed in late 2020 as a part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (2021). The EBB provided $50 a month for households on nontribal lands, and $75 for those on tribal lands. When the EBB became the ACP in 2022, the discount was decreased to $30 a month for nontribal lands households, but eligibility was expanded, and the tribal lands discount stayed the same.

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There are few government initiatives that can boast the impact of the Affordable Connectivity Program. According to the Biden administration, the program saved families over $500 million a month on internet bills. Funding was expected to last through 2024, but the success of the initiative now means that Congress must negotiate funding earlier than expected.

“To some people, a $30 subsidy may not seem like a lot, but to those it does matter to, it is a lot,” Skye Downing, an ACP recipient who also works for the Community Tech Network (CTN), told the Prospect. CTN’s mission is to “connect every household to the Internet,” she said, which the organization does through outreach and capacity-building. CTN “assist[s] with getting access to devices, internet resources,” and Downing’s co-workers are on the ground providing assistance to community members.

Downing is the mother of a homebound teen and caretaker of a disabled elder friend. In Downing’s work with CTN, she was familiar with the ACP; as the primary source of household income, Downing was eligible under her caretaker status.

“We’ve got three people in the house operating daily that have to have complete and total access to everything on the internet without buffering or display issues,” Downing said. Her teen attends remote schooling; Matthew, the friend under Downing’s care, is a professional musician who relies on internet access for professional needs, but medical needs as well; and Downing works remotely for CTN. “So we may all be doing these things all at once and they need to be able to function.”

There are few government initiatives that can boast the impact of the Affordable Connectivity Program.

The broadband credit attempted to address the “digital divide,” the gap between those who are connected to internet services and those without connection. In 2019, the FCC estimated that almost 21 million Americans existed in that gap without reliable access to high-speed broadband, and that most of those households were in rural areas.

The COVID-19 pandemic only increased the nation’s reliance on broadband and wireless connectivity. Work and schooling were moved online, and social media and video calling kept people steady during initial lockdowns. A year past the pandemic, such connection remains vital for many groups of people who use it for certain medical devices, for telehealth, remote work, remote schooling, and a wide array of services that are offered online only.

“It used to be that having the internet was a luxury, and now it’s really a necessity to survive,” Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), told the Prospect. “Whether it’s work, health, education, [or] life in general, we need to have internet access and we need to have it regularly.”

In a February letter to Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel emphasized the need for additional funding. According to Rosenworcel, capping the funding of “the largest and most successful broadband affordability program in our Nation’s history” would disrupt service for more than 75 percent of current recipients. Rosenworcel wrote that a recent FCC survey showed that “nearly three-quarters of households use their ACP-funded internet for health care, approximately half use it for employment, and approximately three-quarters of ACP subscribers between 18 and 24 years of age use it for school.”

Although $7 billion in funding for the ACP is on the table, and the program enjoys broad support, equitable broadband access advocates worry the issue may fall through the cracks in Congress. Spreading awareness resulted in Don’t Disconnect Us Day, which took place in January, and was spearheaded by the Affordable Broadband Campaign. According to its website, Americans made over a quarter-million calls in support of the ACP.

“It would be a tragedy to let this program lapse,” said Raza Panjwani, senior policy counsel for Open Technology Institute, which is a program of New America focused on “equitable access to digital technology.”

The ACP’s success can be partially attributed to the broad outreach the FCC undertook to connect it to as many people as possible. The FCC tapped into the large NGO network that had a stake in this issue with outreach programs such as Your Home, Your Internet and the Affordable Connectivity Navigator pilot programs, which were designed to “increase awareness of and facilitate enrollment in the ACP,” according to the FCC.

The flexible aspect of the ACP is another strong component of the program. As Panjwani explained to the Prospect, households rely on either wired or wireless access to the internet. The ACP provided a discount for up to one service discount and one mobile device discount, allowing recipients to pick and choose what best suited their needs.

The ACP’s success can be partially attributed to the broad outreach the FCC undertook.

Phyllis Jackson, an ACP recipient and Pennsylvania resident, spoke with the Prospect about how the program has helped her. Jackson, who recently turned 79, used to access the internet only at the local senior center, or by using a hot spot that cost her and only lasted a short amount of time. She operates on a fixed income, and lives alone. Before the program, and in the midst of the pandemic, Jackson found herself disconnected, “left without anything.”

Jackson pointed out how her medication costs $30 a month, the discount the ACP made her eligible for. Jackson also noted that her rent is about half of her monthly income.

Jackson became a recipient of the ACP when she was put in touch with Will Perez, at Computer Reach, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that makes “technology available to people most in need through refurbished equipment, computer literacy, training, and support.” Through Perez and the organization, Jackson was able to sign up for the ACP. The ACP provided Jackson with reliable access to the internet from her home by simply putting the cost within her budget.

“It’s been a lifesaver for me,” Jackson said. “I always say [the internet is] like one of my best friends.” It keeps her connected to her daughter who lives out of town; it keeps her updated on her rent and prescriptions, and provides her joy through music and cooking recipes. In addition, Jackson has found a new sense of independence.

If the story of a pandemic-era benefit that was massively popular coming to an abrupt end sounds familiar, that is because it should. Just look at the end of the expanded Child Tax Credit, which lifted nearly four million children out of poverty, or the temporary pause on student debt repayments. One by one, these programs have been ending or running out of funding.

“It would be really unfortunate if we did manage to renew funding, but not until after the program went out,” Panjwani told the Prospect. “That would mean undoing the excellent work to get people signed up in the first place. And that just reinforces confusion and lack of trust in public benefit programs.”

The trust between people who need government programs, the government that represents them and funds programs, and the state and nongovernmental organizations that are tasked with the execution of those programs is tenuous at best. Making promises and being unable to follow through (or to follow through well) is a classic reason for American skepticism about the federal government. But nonprofits such as Computer Reach often bear the brunt of disappointment.

“We have devoted considerable time to building rapport and gaining the trust of community members, encouraging them to enroll in the ACP program,” Perez told the Prospect in an email. “A majority of these community members expressed hesitation, fearing the program’s premature termination due to funding issues. Now their fears are materializing.”

Despite economic forecasts that are generally positive, millions of Americans struggle every day to make ends meet. The ending of programs like the ACP puts a giant question mark on how a divided Congress is going to tackle roiling economic issues that cannot be waved away by focusing on “growth,” and ignoring average American struggles. As Downing put it, “Nothing’s getting less expensive. It is only getting more expensive to survive.”