Tag Archives: Affordable Connectivity Program

Common Sense determines Affordable Connectivity Program is good investment – worth continuing

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Common Sense reports on ACP, as policymakers are deciding whether to continue it and what to do next…

Here are five facts about the impact the ACP is having on families across the country:

  • Roughly 50 million households qualify for the subsidy. That’s nearly 40% of the country.
  • Over 18.5 million households are currently enrolled. That’s more than 14% of the country.
  • In 2023, ACP enrollment grew by over half a million every month, or at a rate of 3.5% per month.
  • Majorities in both parties support the ACP: Sixty-four percent of Republicans and 95% of Democrats.
  • The ACP’s success is bipartisan. Forty-six percent of enrollees live in Republican congressional districts, and 50% live in Democratic congressional districts.

The benefit of the ACP also reaches well beyond eligible households. Our research found that connecting families has a significant positive impact on education, health care, government services, and even workforce development. When more households are connected to high-speed internet, outcomes can improve in each of these sectors. For example, when students remain unconnected, our research found an estimated loss of $33 billion dollars in GDP annually. By connecting students, the country could avoid this loss.

A recent analysis by Cigna noted that telemedicine access lowered the cost of care by up to $141 per visit. The same analysis found that telemedicine increased the number of entry points into the health care system as well as improved outcomes. With more families connected, telemedicine could be an option for more people, both patients and providers. Connectivity also increases employment rates and earnings, creating more than $2,200 in economic benefit for lower-income households.

Both new and established providers need certainty that ACP will remain in place as they decide whether to participate in the biggest new broadband infrastructure program, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, and determine how ambitious they can be in their proposals.

Our recent analysis found that the existence of ACP led to an estimated 25% reduction in the per household subsidy needed to incentivize providers in rural areas. ACP is the linchpin that will turn the IIJA’s massive once-in-a-generation investment in broadband from a program that is just about building networks to one that is helping our most vulnerable communities connect to the benefits of the digital economy.

MN DEED reports on Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Week of Action

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From the Office of Broadband Development news alert…

Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Week of Action

June 14 – 21

June 14th kicked off the Biden-Harris Administration’s ACP Week of Action. The Affordable Connectivity Program is a vital resource for households across the United States as we drive toward our goal of #InternetForAll.

“Today, the Administration announced that Civic Nation and the U.S. Department of Education are launching Online For All, a digital equity campaign working to close the digital divide by focusing on internet access, affordability, and equity for students, families, and all Americans. Online For All will work with nonprofit, government, corporate, and media stakeholders to educate communities about how the Biden-Harris Internet for All Initiative can help them access reliable, affordable high-speed internet.

The partnership is kicking off with a Week of Action to drive enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program. Over 18.5 million households are now enrolled, saving a total of over $500 million per month on their high-speed internet bills. This is incredible progress for a program that is just 18 months old, but there’s more work to do. Research indicates that approximately half of the remaining qualified Americans are not aware of the program. The Online for All Week of Action will bring together the federal government and over 300 organizations to raise awareness and help eligible families sign-up.”

Read more about work happening across the federal government to increase awareness and drive enrollments in the Affordable Connectivity Program.

Also check out Pew’s Affordable Connectivity Program fact sheet and DEED’s Digital Inclusion site.

US Conference of Mayors on broadband: Yes to money and local control

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Borrowing from the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society’s recap of the US Conference of Mayors broadband-related resolutions…

The U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted the following resolutions:

  1. Urging Congress to renew and extend the Affordable Connectivity Program funding in 2024 to ensure currently enrolled ACP low-income households continue to have access to affordable high-speed internet, recognizing that closing the digital divide will allow Americans to access the resources they need and strengthen the U.S. economy to compete in the 21st Century.
  2. Requesting BEAD, ACP, and Digital Equity Act funding be allocated with cities and urban centers in mind, recognizing that high density, low-income communities of color are a primary population that the broadband programs seeks to connect.
  3. Calling on the United States Senate to promptly confirm Anna M. Gomez to fill the vacant fifth FCC Commissioner seat and to reconfirm Geoffrey Adam Starks and Brendan Carr for additional terms as Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.
  4. Opposing the American Broadband Act of 2023 (HR 3557)—which would pre-empt local governments’ rights-of-way compensation and management authority, zoning powers, cable franchising authority, and property rights—and urging the House and Senate not to pass this legislation.

EVENT June 26: Affordable Connectivity Program Sign Up Day in Deer River

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From Paul Bunyan Communications, to help get people in Deer River Connected and maybe give a good idea to providers in other areas…

Paul Bunyan Communications, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Itasca County, and the Itasca Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) are holding a sign-up day for the Affordable Connectivity Program on Monday, June 26 from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at King Elementary in Deer River as part of the Day of Connections.

This event will provide the opportunity to explore many community resources including free/reduced Internet service through the Affordable Connectivity Program, job opportunities, education, social services, and Leech Lake Tribal IDs with the $15 replacement fee waived for all attendees.  Transportation is available with pick up locations including Spring Lake Community Center, Inger Community Center, and Lone Eagle Center in Ball Club.  For more information on the Day of Connections call 218-328-8352.

The Affordable Connectivity Program will help to lower the cost of broadband service for eligible households struggling to afford internet service and provides a discount of up to a $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for qualifying households on qualifying Tribal lands.

A household is eligible if one member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

  • Has an income that is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines;
  • Participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, WIC, or Lifeline;
  • Participates inone of several Tribal specific programs, such as Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal Head Start (only households meeting the relevant income qualifying standard) Tribal TANF, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations;
  • Is approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision;
  • Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; or

Eligible households can enroll at the sign-up event, through a participating broadband provider, or by going to http://www.getinternet.gov to submit an online application or print a mail-in application and contacting their preferred participating broadband provider and selecting a plan.  Additional information about the Emergency Broadband Benefit is available at http://www.getinternet.gov or by calling 877-384-2575 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET any day of the week.

EVENT May 15: Paul Bunyan Communications and Red Lake Nation Affordable Connectivity Program Sign Up Day

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I share for the folks in the area who might benefit (please tell a friend who isn’t online and might benefit). I also share for other communities that might host a similar event…

Paul Bunyan Communications and the Red Lake Nation are holding another a sign-up day for the Affordable Connectivity Program on Monday, May 15 from 1-4 p.m. at the Red Lake Community Center, 15041 Great Nation Drive.

The Affordable Connectivity Program will help to lower the cost of broadband service for eligible households struggling to afford internet service and provides a discount of up to a $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for qualifying households on qualifying Tribal lands.

A household is eligible if one member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

  • Has an income that is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines;
  • Participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, WIC, or Lifeline;
  • Participates inone of several Tribal specific programs, such as Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal Head Start (only households meeting the relevant income qualifying standard) Tribal TANF, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations;
  • Is approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision;
  • Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; or
  • Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating broadband provider’s existing low-income program.

Eligible households can enroll at the sign-up event, through a participating broadband provider, or by going to ACPBenefit.org to submit an online application or print a mail-in application and contacting their preferred participating broadband provider and selecting a plan.  Additional information about the Emergency Broadband Benefit is available at www.fcc.gov/ACP, or by calling 877-384-2575 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET any day of the week.

 

Is your community taking advantage of ACP? Benton has a tool to help figure that out?

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The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)  provides 17 million households up to $30 per month in subsidies to offset the cost of broadband. In Minnesota, 193,678 have signed up. Benton Institute for Broadband & Society has created a tool to help determine whether that number is good or not, based on how many people qualify – down to the zip code level…

The Benton Institute’s ACP Performance Tool is a resource for any community that wants to answer the question: “How are ACP sign-ups going?” To answer, search a 5-digit zip code on the tool’s website. The ACP Performance Tool returns results that show two important numbers for the zip code area: 1) how many households have signed up for ACP (from government data) and 2) the expected number of households enrolled (the output from a statistical model discussed more below).

The difference between actual ACP enrollment and expected enrollment is a measure of performance. The tool places the zip code area into one of five performance categories:

  1. Highest: Where actual enrollments exceed expected enrollment by 40%
  2. High: Where actual enrollments are between 10% and 39% greater than expected
  3. Medium: Where actual enrollments fall between 9% and -9% of expectations
  4. Low: Where actual enrollments are between -10% and -39% of expectations
  5. Lowest: Where actual enrollments are below expected ones by 40% or less.

 

Gilda’s Club in the TC helping to get cancer support to unserved with broadband and devices

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Yahoo Finance reports…

Gilda’s Club Twin Cities, part of the Cancer Support Community (CSC) global non-profit network providing free social and emotional support for everyone impacted by cancer, announced a new initiative to improve access to cancer support and education, especially among individuals at higher risk of developing cancer residing in urban and rural settings in Minnesota. In a highly unique approach to connecting with medically underserved people, Gilda’s Club Twin Cities is working with Equiva, a digital health platform provider that recently unveiled its Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)-centric solution.

Here are some details…

Through Equiva’s ACP-centric solution, the organizations are collaborating to ensure eligible households get FCC discounts of up to $30 per month toward internet service (up to $75 per month for Tribal lands) and that each household enrolled by Gilda’s Club Twin Cities receives a tablet device preloaded with digital access to virtual cancer support groups, healthy lifestyle education, cancer treatment information, and other resources. It also includes the clinically validated Cancer Support Source® distress, depression and anxiety screener, which will allow Gilda’s Club to identify individuals who could benefit from emotional support services or resource referrals.

To help enroll ACP-eligible households across Minnesota, Gilda’s Club Twin Cities is making impacted individuals, healthcare providers, and community organizations aware of the ACP. Additionally, they are educating these constituents about their collaboration with Equiva and their efforts to deliver oncology- specific digital offerings to at-risk individuals.

Apparently Affordable Connectivity Program is easier to sign up to get

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The FCC reports…

The Federal Communications Commission today announced a series of enhancements to the online consumer application system for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) to make it easier for eligible consumers to apply and enroll in the program.  The nation’s largest-ever broadband affordability effort, the ACP is now supporting internet connections in 17 million households.  The program, authorized and funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 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.

A bit about the enhancements…

The enhancements are designed to reduce the time it takes to enroll by providing clear instructions, to decrease steps and to simplify language while continuing to protect against waste, fraud and abuse and guarding the integrity of the program.  Enhancements were developed in consultation with digital navigators, digital equity advocates, and Internet Service Providers.  The FCC will continue to make improvements to ensure that all qualifying consumers can easily access the Affordable Connectivity Program.

People have concerns with ACP and future funding

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CNBC reports on ACP (Affordable Connectivity Program)…

  • Sixteen million U.S. households have been relying on federal broadband subsidies to keep internet access within their budgets.
  • The current subsidy is expected to run out of funding next year, and unless it is renewed by Congress all of the enrolled households could lose affordable broadband.
  • February marked the two-year anniversary of the debut of the Emergency Broadband Benefit, the first of the two pandemic-era broadband subsidies.

Update in Minnesota enrollment in ACP (Affordable Connectivity Program)

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USC Anneberg has taken a closer look at the results of the first year of access to ACP (Affordable Connectivity Program)…

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is the most ambitious federal initiative put into place to bridge the broadband connectivity gap for low-income Americans. The ACP launched in January 2022, serving almost 10 million households that were transitioned from the Emergency Broadband Benefit program (EBB). By the end of 2022 it had enrolled another 5.4 million households for a total of about 15.4 million subscribers in December 2022. Using data from the ACS 2021 1-year estimates, our estimation is that about 55.3 million households are eligible for ACP[1].

According to the USAC website, Minnesota has 179,362 households signed up for ACP. Last time I checked (Nov 2022) only 87,113 households had signed up.)

Here is how we compare to the rest of the country (lighter the color the lighter the subscription rates to ACP)…

And here is what it looks like in Minnesota, (again lighter the color the lighter the subscription rates to ACP)….

Does it look like your county is leaving help in the table? SF (San Francisco) Tech Council has some tools to help.

EVENT Feb 16: ILSR’s Building for Digital Equity Returns

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The Institute for Local Self Reliance reports…

Save the date! ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks team is back for a second season of our Building for Digital Equity series.

You can register now here.

The free online live stream will be held on Feb. 16 from 2-3 pm CST/3-4 pm ET.

We will unpack how local communities are working with their states to challenge the FCC’s broadband maps, bringing together local stakeholders, policy advocates, and GIS and Data Visualization Specialists in one place. We will also cover local organizing for better broadband and the latest on the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

EVENT Feb 13: Affordable Connectivity Program Sign Up Day in Ball Club (Itasca County)

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News for folks in Itasca County and an idea for folks who aren’t…

Paul Bunyan Communications, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, and the Itasca Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) are holding a sign-up day for the Affordable Connectivity Program, on Monday, February 13 from 1-6 p.m. at the Lone Eagle Community Center in Ball Club.

This new long-term benefit will help to lower the cost of broadband service for eligible households struggling to afford internet service and provides a discount of up to a $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for qualifying households on qualifying Tribal lands.

A household is eligible if one member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

  • Has an income that is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines;
  • Participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, WIC, or Lifeline;
  • Participates inone of several Tribal specific programs, such as Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal Head Start (only households meeting the relevant income qualifying standard) Tribal TANF, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations;
  • Is approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision;
  • Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; or
  • Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating broadband provider’s existing low-income program.

Eligible households can enroll at the sign-up event, through a participating broadband provider, or by going to ACPBenefit.org to submit an online application or print a mail-in application and contacting their preferred participating broadband provider and selecting a plan.  Additional information about the Affordable Connectivity Program Benefit is available at www.fcc.gov/ACP, or by calling 877-384-2575 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET any day of the week.

We all do better when we are all better connected – study shows how

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Common Sense has released analysis of how universal connectivity benefits education, health care, government services, and employment. They look at three things:

  • How Institutions Use Connectivity
  • The Infrastructure Required to Innovate Essential Services
  • How Federal Funds Can Close the Digital Divide and Ensure Equitable Access to Essential Services.

The whole report is interesting but for most readers I think the last section will be of particular interest. They give step-by-step recommendations on how states can maximize impact by:

  • Building State Capacity
  • Mapping the Divide
  • Planning with Institutions
  • Promoting the ACP
  • Creating Sustainable Funding and Policies

FCC to collect data on ACP recipients, subscriptions and offerings

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The FCC reports…

The Federal Communications Commission has adopted an order creating the Affordable Connectivity Program Transparency Data Collection, a statutorily mandated annual data collection describing all internet service plans subscribed to by households enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).  Congress, through the Infrastructure Jobs and Investment Act, required the Commission to collect this data for all service plans subscribed to by an ACP-enrolled household.  Providers must also submit plan characteristics including speed, latency, and bundle characteristics, and a unique identifier associated with a broadband label if applicable, as well as certain aggregated plan enrollment subscriber data.

“To find out whether this program is working as Congress intended, we need to know who is participating, and how they are using the benefit,” said Chairwoman Rosenworcel.  “So we’re doing just that.  The data we collect will help us know where we are, and where we need to go.  We’re also standardizing the way we collect data, and looking for other ways to paint a fuller picture of how many eligible households are participating in the ACP.  We want all eligible households to know about this important benefit for affordable internet service.”

The Order would require ACP providers to submit annually data on price, plan coverage, and plan characteristics of their broadband internet services subscribed to by ACP-enrolled households.  A Further Notice seeks comment on subscriber enrollment data, digital divide metrics, metrics related to low-income plan and connected device offerings, and on the merits and burdens associated with the collection of subscriber level information.  The Further Notice also seeks comment on whether the Commission should collect information related to the digital divide, including whether an ACP subscriber is a first-time or existing broadband subscriber or is subscribed to multiple plans.  In addition, the Further Notice seeks comment on the collecting information related to providers’ low-income broadband plan and connected device offerings.

It would be nice if there was a way to invite the household to also take a speed test. Then we’d know what they are paying for and what they are getting. It seems like with the public money being invested that both parties (provider and subscriber) could be enticed to provide as much info as requested, certainly in terms of the service.

OPPORTUNITY: Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program now open

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If you are working to spread the word on Affordable Connectivity Program funding (ACP) in your community, this funding might be for you…

The Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program (ACP Outreach Grant Program) is comprised of four complementary grant programs:

  • National Competitive Outreach Program (NCOP)
  • Tribal Competitive Outreach Program (TCOP)
  • Your Home, Your Internet (YHYI) Outreach Grants
  • Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Navigator Pilot Program (NPP) Outreach Grants

The FCC issues this NOFO to describe the requirements under which it will award grants for the NCOP and the TCOP. A separate NOFO will be issued for the ACP Outreach Grant Program – Pilot Programs, YHYI and NPP. The ACP Outreach Grant Program is one tool among a comprehensive set of measures authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021(Infrastructure Act) and implemented by the FCC to help bridge the digital divide. The ACP Outreach Grant Program will help increase awareness of and participation in the ACP among eligible households. The ACP Outreach Grant Program provides new federal funding for the FCC to grant eligible governmental and non-governmental entities with the funding and resources needed to increase awareness of and participation in the ACP among those households most in need of affordable connectivity. See Section IV – Program Description of this NOFO for the full Program Description.