The FCC released additional information on the ACP Your Home, Your Internet Pilot and the ACP Navigator Pilot. The commission said it will release a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) and begin accepting applications for the programs next month.
The Your Home, Your Internet pilot is aimed at increasing awareness of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which pays up to $30 a month for low-income households toward the cost of broadband service.
The pilot is open to federal agencies; state, local and tribal housing agencies; tenant associations’ and non-profit and community-based entities that provide ACP-related or other support for federal housing assistance recipients.
The ACP Navigator pilot will give “trusted, neutral third-party entities” the ability to enroll low-income households into the ACP. The third parties might include schools or other local or state governmental entities but not non-profit organizations.
The Your Home, Your Internet pilot and ACP Navigator pilot each have a budget of $5 million for grants for pilot participants. The FCC expects to select about 20 participants for each of the pilot programs.
Eligible parties interested in participating in one or both programs and that do not need funding to support their participation may also apply.
Your Home, Your Internet
Applicants to either or both pilot programs must provide a range of information including:
- Estimated number of people the applicant expects to engage through pilot program activities and estimated percentage of those that may be ACP eligible
- Geographic areas to be served
- Constituencies the applicant intends to serve (such as federal housing assistance recipients, people who live on tribal lands, rural residents, people of color, people with disabilities, etc.)
- Description of applicant’s role in the community it serves
- Description of activities the applicant proposes to conduct through the pilot programs (such as creation of promotional materials, hands-on application assistance, etc.)
- Description of how the applicant intends to track and measure the success of activities conducted through the pilot program
- Explanation of the strategies that the applicant expects to use
The FCC said it will prioritize applications that:
- Target a broad geographic area and/or a large number of people in the target audience
- Incorporate effective tracking and performance measurements
- Encourage participation in the ACP by communities that currently have a low participation rate in the program
Additional information about the FCC’s plans and requirements for the Your Home, Your Internet and ACP Navigator pilot programs can be found in this public notice.
