Chairwoman Rosenworcel's Response to Members of Congress Regarding the Affordable Connectivity Program

On Dec 15, 2023, Republican leadership from the Senate and House Commerce Committees wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel with questions and concerns abbout the FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). On January 5, Chairwoman Rosenworcel replied to the letter, saying that the benefit is available to households that meet the requirements laid out by Congress in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the agency cannot condition that support on additional factors or other data collection. The record reflects, however, that ACP has been particularly successful with helping low-income households obtain fixed broadband service, a service that has long suffered from lower adoption rates by low-income households.  Almost half of the ACP households, almost 10 million households, are using that benefit for fixed broadband. This includes approximately 2.7 million households that are eligible though a school breakfast and lunch program and over half a million households that were eligible through a Veterans or Survivors Pension. The IIJA does not limit enrollment in the ACP to first-time broadband users. As a result, the agency does not have the authority to limit enrollments in this manner or otherwise condition receipt of support on carriers certifying this information regarding the households they serve that participate in this program. However a November 2022 pilot survey reported 16 percent of ACP subscribers were first-time internet users. And a July 2023 survey reported that roughly 20 percent of ACP subscribers responding to the survey were first-time internet users, indicating an increase over time.