LANSING – A federal program that helps 937,000 Michigan households pay their internet bills has frozen new applications and could end this spring.
Created in 2021, the $14 billion Affordable Connectivity Program provides discounted internet to 22 million low-income households across the country. But the one-time funding allocation is expected to be depleted in April with only partial support available in May.
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created this program, our largest-ever effort to make broadband affordable nationwide, but we now are on the brink of letting that success slip away,” Federal Communications Commissions Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “Disconnecting millions of families from their jobs, schools, markets, and information is not the solution. We have come too far with the ACP to turn back.”
The program gives eligible households $30 a month toward internet service and up to $75 a month for those living on tribal lands.
But facing a funding cliff, the FCC has started to wind down the program.
The Affordable Connectivity Program stopped taking applications this week. Households enrolled in the program will only receive discounted service through their internet provider until the funding runs out. And internet companies have started notifying households about projected end of the program; they’ll send more notices during the last fully funded month.
About 42 million Americans don’t have access to broadband internet, according to research from BroadbandNow, partly due to infrastructure gaps. But nearly a third of Americans without broadband say its because internet costs too much, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reports.
The Biden administration says the disparities impact “underserved communities, rural communities, veterans and older Americans.” About half the households enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program are military families. Four million are seniors. And roughly half are African American and Latino households.
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