News
Full subsidies previously offered by the government for broadband have ended but appeals for renewed funding to Congress only grown louder, along with warnings that rural areas could be the most impacted.
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has again appealed to Congress for additional ACP funding, delivering a “final letter” to Congressional leaders on the matter.
The chairwoman’s letter, dated May 1, called additional funding the only near-term solution to save the ACP. The letter was addressed to Congressman David Joyce (R-OH), chair of the House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government.
Joyce represents Ohio’s 14th congressional district in the northeastern corner of the state.
“If additional funding is not promptly appropriated, the one in six households nationwide that rely on this program will face rising bills and increasing disconnection,” Rosenworcel wrote to Joyce.
Rosenworcel warned that the ACP has helped inventivice provider participation in rural high-cost areas.
“By cutting the ACP now, it will reduce the number of households that can afford service, raising the cost of networks supported by BEAD funding and threatening our shared goal of achieving internet for all,” Rosenworcel wrote.
As previously reported by Broadband Communities, nearly 23 million households nationwide rely on the program, which provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands, according to the FCC.
Households are eligible for the ACP if their income is at or below 200 percent of poverty guidelines set by the government.
An effort to renew funding for the ACP, The Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act of 2024, was last referred to the House Committe on Appropriations on Jan. 10, the same day it was introduced by Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY).
The House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, where Joyce serves as chair, is a subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations.
The bill to renew funding for the ACP includes the support of Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, one of the proposal’s 228 listed co-sponsors. Fitzpatrick’s district, in the northeastern portion of Pennsylvania, includes the cities of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. In total, 22 Republicans are named as co-sponsors to the proposal, which is listed as H.R. 6929.
If The Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act of 2024 is passed, it would provide an additional $7 billion to fund the program, according to a prior release from Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), who is co-sponsoring the legislation in the U.S. Senate.
Rosenworcel will appear in person before the financial services and general government subcommittee later this month, during a budget hearing, for a FY 2025 FCC request, scheduled for next Wednesday morning.
A release from the FCC that followed up Rosenworcel’s letter to Joyce highlighted which states would be hurt most by the program’s exhaustion of funds, which will deplete completely at the end of May, ending even the partial subsidy made available to ACP households enrolled with providers that opted in to offer a partial discount for the ACP’s last month.
The FCC’s statement listed the top ten states with the highest participation rates among eligible households. The list included Ohio, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, California, Oklahoma, and Washington.
“According to our survey of ACP beneficiaries, 77 percent of participating households report that losing this benefit would disrupt their service by making them change their plan or lead to them dropping internet service entirely,” Rosenworcel’s letter to Joyce stated. “If the ACP ends, we risk reversing the significant progress this program has made towards closing the digital divide.”
According to the FCC, states with the highest percentage of rural households enrolled in the ACP include Vermont, Mississippi, South Dakota, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Maine, Kentucky, West Virginia, Montana, and Arkansas.
States with the highest number of tribal households enrolled included Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, and South Dakota, the FCC’s May 1 release stated.
