More than 20 million Americans enrolled in a federal program for subsidized internet access

More than 20 million US households are now receiving discounts on internet service as part of Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program. The program has continued to gain more than half a million new households a month since February 2023. Despite the program’s bipartisan popularity and its rapid uptake by consumers, the new enrollment figures still only represent about 40% of the estimated 50 million households in the United States that may be eligible for assistance through the ACP, according to research by the consumer advocacy group Common Sense Media. And the ACP’s future is uncertain: Once the program runs out of the $14 billion that Congress initially allocated for it, millions of low-income Americans could lose their monthly discounts. The more households that sign up, the faster the program will exhaust its funding. Policy analysts widely anticipate the ACP running out of money in 2024, setting up pressure on Congress to extend the program.