The Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), established in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is expected to end this Spring if it does not receive additional funding from Congress soon. The funding situation is so dire that this week the FCC halted any new enrollments in the program. For millions of people eligible for the ACP, affordable broadband service is getting harder to obtain. And, as ACP funding dwindles, over 23 million households relying on the program for affordable broadband are facing a $30 per month increase in their internet access bills. For many, this will lead to hard decisions about choosing between staying connected and buying groceries or medical care. But who are the people who qualify for the ACP? Who are the people at risk of losing service if ACP is not refunded? In less than three years since the FCC launched the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (the precursor to ACP), over 23 million households have enrolled in ACP. But over 50 million households are eligible for the benefit, meaning that more than half the households Congress intended to aid are not yet enjoying more affordable broadband service. Read on to understand who these people are and why the ACP is so valuable to them.

High-speed internet is vital for all of us to live, work, and connect with one another. In recent years, we have come a long way toward improving internet access and affordability in Wisconsin. However, we are poised to take a major step backwards unless Congress acts to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). As of January 2024, over 22 million households in the US are enrolled and receiving the ACP monthly benefit, including more than 420,000 Wisconsin households. This means that more families can connect to work and school, meet with a healthcare provider, and access other important information and services online. Research shows that broadband benefit programs for low-income households increase their earnings and employment rates. Broadband access also corresponds to improved health outcomes. These positive impacts help boost our economy, which benefits us all. The ACP is an effective resource for millions of families, but without action from Congress, it will end as early as this April. We must ensure internet service is also affordable so everyone can participate in our economy and society. The path to internet affordability starts by extending the ACP. 

Before implementing their BEAD programs, every state and territory broadband office will have one last chance to update the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) new broadband availability maps by running their own challenge process. This will be the final step in determining which areas are eligible for a BEAD-funded project. In a new publication, we have broken down the fundamentals of why these BEAD challenge processes matter, who can participate, and how it works. To go a bit further into the weeds here, we’ve taken a look at every state and territory’s Initial Proposal Volume 1 and mapped out what their process may look like (subject to NTIA’s approval). These challenge windows will be a critical step to allow broadband offices to correct gaps in the FCC's map and adapt to the eligibility of BEAD. I urge anyone interested in ensuring states are working off of accurate information before deploying $42 billion to look to their state broadband office for the precise details on how and when to participate.

Just about six months into his appointed role as broadband director for Nebraska, Patrick Haggerty is upbeat, positive, and taking on Nebraska’s BEAD deployment with a smile. Haggerty assumed his new duties under Governor Jim Pillen (R-NE) in mid-2023, shortly after the state created its first broadband office. Haggerty comes to his new role with more than three decades of telecommunications experience in the private sector, critical in a state that’s considered to be friendly toward providers. “It’s important that our office is able to be provider-friendly and speak the same language as ISPs,” Haggerty explained.  “There are no requirements in BEAD that providers engage and participate, so without them we’re sunk.” Haggerty said that everyone in the Nebraska Broadband Office is fully committed to his three tenets of transparency, accessibility, and being easy to work with. He expressed optimism that the state’s BEAD allocation of $405.3 million would be enough to reach the underserved and unserved of Nebraska.

ESPN, Fox, and Warner are teaming up to create a supersize sports-streaming service that will offer content from all major leagues, a deal that will reshape the sports and media landscape. The as-yet-unnamed service will be offered directly to consumers, who would be able to stream a host of channels that are heavy in live sports, including ESPN, TNT, Fox, FS1 and ABC, the companies said in a statement. Each of the companies will have one-third ownership of the new service, which is expected to launch in the fall. The companies didn’t announce pricing. The chief executives of Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney—ESPN’s majority owner—said the new offering would increase choice for fans and give those who have cut the cord to traditional pay-TV a new sportscentric service.

A company best known for its posts on Instagram announced that it will try to capitalize on young people’s growing use of social media for news by teaming with a well known TikTok creator for political coverage this year. The company, Betches, said it will partner with the creator Vitus “V” Spehar a.k.a. @underthedesknews on a political podcast called “American Fever Dream.” Spehar rose to prominence on TikTok after covering the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol and now posts daily news to her over 3 million followers on the app. Betches was founded in 2011 by three college students, Sami Sage, Aleen Dreksler and Jordana Abraham. Over the past decade the brand has expanded into a multiplatform media company perhaps best known for its significant Instagram presence. The brand also hosts a robust podcast network with over a dozen podcasts covering pop culture, reality TV, true crime, dating and other topics. Betches co-founder Sage said the company intends to cover the US presidential election across its news channels, including a news-driven Instagram account with over 616,000 followers, a newsletter and potentially live events.

Comcast and Charter broadband customer growth has stagnated, and all of the cable companies are now slowly losing customers. There are a lot of reasons for the stagnation and customer losses. One of the factors that put cable companies at such a competitive disadvantage is broadband prices. The cable companies have been regularly raising rates annually for years to levels that are far higher than all of their competitors. The high rates were sustainable in markets where the cable companies held a virtual monopoly, but an increasing number of their markets now see competition from fiber and fixed wireless access. Cable companies are under tremendous pressure from Wall Street to increase earnings, and that’s extremely challenging in an industry where they are losing customers to multiple aggressive competitors. But if companies are losing customers, is it time to cut rates?

Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez, who joined the agency in September 2023, said that her top priorities for the FCC include setting the stage for vibrant competition and promoting connectivity for every consumer. Key to that connectivity is making spectrum available, which the Commissioner said is an area of top importance. Commissioner Gomez outlined her key priorities during a wide-ranging Fireside Chat with Brad Bernthal, executive director of the University of Colorado’s Silicon Flatirons conference. She touted the White House’s National Spectrum Strategy, which was released in November 2023 in coordination with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the FCC. The goal is to identify more spectrum that could be available for new uses and requires input from other agencies. Another area of particular concern for Commissioner Gomez is the potential end of the Affordable Connectivity Program, which offers a $30 per month broadband subsidy to around 23 million U.S. consumers. The program is slated to run out of money in April, which is likely to result in a wave of disconnects.