For more than 23 million households, the Affordable Connectivity Program has provided up to $30 in monthly internet bill discounts for eligible families and as much as $75 per month for families in eligible tribal lands. (John Lamb/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — With Friday the official last day of the pandemic-era Affordable Connectivity Program, the Biden administration is highlighting commitments from more than a dozen internet service providers to offer plans of $30 or less to households with low incomes.
This comes as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Jessica Rosenworcel said the short-term program had to end due to a lack of funding, and both she and President Joe Biden continue to urge Congress to reinstate it.
For more than 23 million households, the Affordable Connectivity Program has provided up to $30 in monthly internet bill discounts for eligible families and as much as $75 per month for families in eligible tribal lands.
“The Affordable Connectivity Program has filled an important gap that providers of low-income programs, state and local affordability programs, and the Lifeline program cannot fully close,” Rosenworcel wrote in letters to congressional leaders on Thursday.
“Millions of ACS households across the country, and households that may be eligible but have not yet applied, are looking to Congress to provide the funding needed to keep the ACS running.”
In addition, the Lifeline program offers a monthly broadband service benefit of $9.25 for eligible households, according to the FCC.
But the committee said this is not an ACS replacement and that “not all ACS households are eligible for Lifeline, and by law many ACS providers are ineligible to participate in the Lifeline program.”
Rosenworcel has sent monthly letters to congressional leaders outlining the need for additional funding to keep the low-cost internet program running.
Her additional letters went out Thursday to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate appropriations panels, including Reps. David Joyce of Ohio and Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Sens. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee.
Rosenworcel also sent another round of letters to the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Senators Maria Cantwell of Washington and Ted Cruz of Texas, and the chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Transportation. Handel, Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and Frank Pallone of New Jersey.
In her most recent letter, Rosenworcel said it was “regrettable” that the FCC had to end the “most successful broadband affordability program in our nation’s history.”
She highlighted some of the potential impacts of the program’s end on many military families and millions of households with school-age children participating in the program.
In addition, Rosenworcel said that “the end of the ACS will also affect approximately 3.4 million households in rural areas and more than 300,000 households in tribal areas.”
Meanwhile, the government said more than a dozen providers have committed “to offering their current ACS subscribers and other eligible households a high-speed internet plan for $30 per month or less, with no fees and data caps, through the end of 2024.”
The providers include: Allo Fiber; Altafiber (and Hawaiian Telcom); Amaze broadband; AT&T; Comcast; Cox; IdeaTek; Mediacom; MLGC; Optimal; Spectrum (Charter communications); starry sky; Verizon; and Vermont Telephone Company, the administration said, noting that the providers together cover up to 10 million households enrolled in the program.
In October, Biden asked Congress for $6 billion in a supplemental funding request to continue ACP funding through the end of 2024.
The post Some providers will offer cheap internet even if federal program ends appeared first on Source New Mexico, according to the White House.
