The reverberations of the ending of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) have been significant. A replacement for the ACP came two steps closer this week with moves in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
The ACP, which was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provided $30 per month to qualifying households ($75 on Tribal lands). The end of the program in May terminated assistance to about 23 million households, according to a press release from the office Rep. Nikki Budzinski (R-IL-13), one of the two representatives who introduced the replacement.
That ACP replacement — The Secure and Affordable Broadband Extension Act — would provide a discount of as much as $30 per month for eligible households.
The act would also deal with another controversial issue related to rip-and-replace funds. The press release from Budzinski’s office stated that the bill would replace “insecure wireless internet equipment” from China-based vendors “like Huawei and ZTE.” It’s not clear if including this in an ACP replacement bill will complicate its passage.
The program would be paid for by auctioning AWS-3 band spectrum to domestic telephone companies. It also would save money — compared to the original ACP — by reducing eligibility to households with incomes at or below 135% of the federal poverty line. The ACP set eligibility to 200% of the poverty line.
Budzinski and Rep. Mike Carey (R-OH-15) introduced the bill in the House. Co-sponsors are Angie Craig (D-MN-02), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11), Joe Courtney (D-CT-02), Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02), Susan Wild (D-PA-07), Jack Bergman (R-MI-01), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), James Moylan (R-GU-AL), Annie Kuster (D-NH-02) and Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR-AL).
Another ACP Replacement bill — the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act — made progress in the Senate yesterday. The Benton Institute reported that the Commerce Committee advanced an amendment from Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) to create $7 billion in funding.
The amendment was attached to the PLAN for Broadband Act, legislation intended to streamline the federal broadband program to make it more accessible for underserved areas. The original Senate co-sponsors of the Extension Act include Welch, JD Vance (R-OH), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Roger Marshall (R-KS).
Many providers and organizations are trying to offer ACP replacements. The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) recently created an “Honor Roll of Low-Cost Internet Plans” to help consumers identify affordable local plans. Companies represented on the list include AT&T, Comcast (Xfinity), Cox Communications, Digital C, Human-I-T, Altice (Optimum), PCs for People, Charter (Spectrum), Starry, Verizon, and Xtream (Mediacom).
