Affordable Connectivity Program | Federal Communications Commission (fcc.gov)
For Immediate Release AFFORDABLE CONNECTIVITY PROGRAM TO END SOON BARRING CONGRESSIONAL ACTION Program Connecting Nearly 23 Million Rural, Suburban, and Urban Households to Broadband Will Stop Enrolling New Applicants on Feb. 7 as Funding Cliff Nears -- WASHINGTON, January 11, 2024—Affordable Connectivity Program funding is expected to last through April 2024, running out completely in May, barring further Congressional appropriations. Without funding to continue, this critical broadband connectivity program must cease accepting new enrollments early next month. The end of this historic broadband affordability program means that nearly 23 million households across the country are at risk of losing internet access. The Federal Communications Commission today released an Order detailing the wind-down of the ACP, which will stop accepting new enrollments on February 7, 2024. By January 25, broadband providers will send an initial notice to all of their ACP subscribers that previews the possible end of the ACP and the impact on the households’ broadband bills once the ACP benefit is no longer available. “We have successfully connected millions upon millions of households to broadband services. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established a historic and unquestionably successful program to make broadband affordable, and we now appear on the brink of letting that success slip away,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “Disconnecting millions of families from their jobs, schools, markets, and information is not the solution. We have come too far with the ACP to turn back.” Yesterday, the bipartisan Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act was introduced in Congress. If adopted, the legislation would provide $7 billion for the ACP. Chairwoman Rosenworcel welcomed the legislation: “I’m grateful to Sens. Welch, Vance, Rosen, and Cramer and Reps. Clarke and Fitzpatrick for their bipartisan leadership as we seek to maintain the historic progress we’ve made through this program.” ACP funding is currently expected to last through April with only partial support available in May 2024. After the FCC announces the official final month of ACP funding, ACP providers must send at least two more notices to households informing them that the ACP is ending, how and when the end of the ACP will impact their bill, and that they may opt-out of continuing service after the end of the ACP or change their service. The ACP is the largest—and most successful—broadband affordability program in our nation’s history. Nearly 23 million households across rural, suburban, and urban America rely on the ACP to pay for the high-speed internet service they need for school, work, health care, and more. The ACP supports eligible low-income households struggling to afford monthly broadband service.
