FCC chair pens Congress as alarm grows over lack of renewed ACP funding

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Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has again underscored the urgency of renewing the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) with a letter to Congress highlighting that one in six American households rely on the program to help pay for internet.

By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities

The end of the ACP would have broad consequences across the nation with the impacts most being felt among senior citizens, veterans, residents of tribal communities, rural residents, and school-aged children. That’s according to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, who again urged Congressional leaders to renew funding for the broadband subsidy, which will expire at the end of April.

According to a release from Rosenworcel’s office, which provided a copy of Rosenworcel’s April 2 letter to Congressional leaders, one in six households in the U.S. rely on the ACP to help pay for broadband and will be at risk of losing connectivity if funding expires. Of the households that use the ACP to help pay for internet, Rosenworcel’s letter said four million of those households include an active or former military member.

“Absent additional funding from Congress, the program will close,” Rosenworcel’s letter stated. “The impending loss of the ACP benefit, which has provided qualifying households $30 in monthly support for broadband and up to $75 in support for households on Tribal lands, is not trivial.”

Despite efforts to renew funding for the program, including a push to approve The Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act of 2024, which has been sponsored in the House of Representatives by members of Congress from both parties, like Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), the Republican led U.S. House of Representatives has still failed to approve the measure.

Households are eligible for the ACP if their income is at or below 200 percent of poverty guidelines set by the government. Advocates still remain hopeful the program will be renewed.

“ACP households across the country are now facing hard choices about what expenses they have to cut, including food and gas, to maintain their broadband access, with some households doubtful they can afford to keep their broadband service at all,” Rosenworcel’s letter stated. “These households are both urban and rural and young and old.”

As previously reported, according to a study commissioned by the FCC, 68 percent of ACP households had inconsistent connectivity or zero connectivity before the program began and over 75 percent of ACP households expect their service will be disrupted if the ACP ends.

In total, over 23 million households are enrolled in the program, according to information on the website of the Joint Economic Committee.

Click here to read the full version of Rosenworcel’s April 2 letter to Congressional leaders.