The FCC reminds us that today is the last day for households to sign up for the Affordable Connectivity Program (federal broadband assistance)…

In this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) reminds providers, eligible households, and all other Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) stakeholders of the upcoming enrollment freeze beginning Thursday, February 8, 2024. To receive the ACP benefit, eligible households must be enrolled in the program by February 7, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. ET.1 The ACP is the largest and most successful broadband affordability program in our nation’s history and helps more than 23 million low-income households, across rural, suburban, and urban America obtain the internet service they need to access health care, work, educational opportunities, and more. Even with news of the program’s projected end in around April 2024, the ACP has remained popular as more households continued to enroll in the program each month.

The ACP funding appropriated by Congress is finite and, without additional appropriated funding, April 2024 is currently projected to be the last month for which the ACP can fully reimburse providers for the benefits passed through to enrolled households.2 To manage the end of the ACP, the Bureau announced the need to stop new enrollments on February 8, 2024 to ensure an orderly transition and to preserve the remaining ACP funding.3 Concurrent with the last day of ACP enrollments, the Bureau and USAC will also stop reviewing new provider applications and election notices on February 7, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. ET.4

Eligible low-income households that wish to enroll in the ACP must have a qualified application and enroll in the program with their preferred provider by February 7, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. ET.5 At the start of the enrollment freeze, both the paper and electronic ACP applications will be removed and no longer accessible.6 All ACP households enrolled at the time of the enrollment freeze will be able to remain enrolled and participate pursuant to program rules through the final month of ACP service.7