A federal pandemic-era program that helped millions of households pay less for internet service is expected to go away in the coming weeks, but some service providers are offering their own discounted programs.
From December 2021, more than 23 million households nationwide enrolled in broadband internet service through the federal $14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, qualifying lower-income participants received up to $30 per month, or up to $75 on Tribal lands, to pay for broadband connection.
As the “largest internet affordability program in U.S. history,” it helped close the digital divide for “vulnerable seniors, veterans, school-aged children, and residents of rural and Tribal communities,” according to the Federal Communications Commission. An FCC survey, released February, found 68% of households had inconsistent or zero connectivity before the program with 80% citing cost as the reason.
Hal Woods, chief of policy for the education nonprofit Kids First Chicago, said more than 350,000 households in Cook County enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program, which supported essential services like education and telehealth.
“ACP’s end threatens educational progress, job security and health care access for low-income families in Chicago and beyond,” Woods said.
But full funding for the program will end after Tuesday and subsequent partial funding will last only through May, the FCC said, unless Congress injects more funding. The White House has requested $6 billion from Congress to continue the program and advocates are pushing to extend the ACP. But continuing the program seems unlikely as it needs bipartisan support from Congress.
If the program ends, advocates “will keep fighting to bring back a new and improved broadband benefit,” said Angela Siefert, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance in Washington D.C. “The long-term solution is to include a broadband benefit in the Universal Service Fund, which needs to be modernized, including expanding the industries that pay into it.”
From the 1990s, telecom providers have paid into the Universal Service Fund to provide services to schools, libraries and low-income and rural areas.
With time running out on the Affordable Connectivity Program, there are options for lower-income households to stay connected. Internet providers are offering a range of programs. Here are some of them:
- Comcast: In April, Comcast launched a new brand called NOW, offering low-cost internet, mobile and wireless hotspots that consumers can buy month-to-month. It also launched streaming TV products, NOW TV, last year. NOW Internet offers two prepaid options offering unlimited data at $30 per month for speed of 100 Mbps or $45 per month for 200 Mbps. The mobile service is $25 per line while the wireless hotspot, called NOW WiFi Pass, is $20 for 30 days. NOW services are expected to be available in the Chicago area in the coming weeks, according to Comcast.
- Verizon: Verizon Forward offers home internet for as low as $20 per month to new and existing eligible lower-income customers. A limited-time offer gives an additional discount for new subscribers that brings down costs to zero for six months after a $99 set-up fee.
- AT&T: The company will continue its Access from AT&T service, which offers internet for $30 per month based on the maximum speed available at your address, up to 100 Mbps. In April, AT&T pledged an additional $3 billion by 2030 to help close the digital divide by helping to increase access to broadband and expand coverage to more rural areas.
- Life Wireless: Life Wireless will continue free and discounted wireless service for eligible low-income households. Life Wireless is supported by the federal Lifeline program, created in 1985 to advance universal phone access. In general, if residents are participating in government programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, supplemental security income (SSI) or veteran’s pension then they would be eligible for low-income telephone assistance.
- Spectrum: The company said on its website that customers who are enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program will receive a partial credit of $15, or $35 for Tribal lands, on their May bill statement. But starting in June, customers will no longer see the credit on their bill, but other promotional discounts applied to their monthly bill will remain until that promotion ends. Customers priced out of Spectrum’s programs were directed to check with the federal Lifeline program. It also encouraged consumers to take action, sharing a link to a pre-written statement they can virtually sign and submit to Congress.