WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FCC has announced that funding is running out for the Affordable Connectivity Program and that the program will soon have to be shut down unless Congress provides additional funding.
The FCC said that without further Congressional appropriations funding is expected to last through April 2024 and run out completely in May.
Given the funding problems, the FCC said that the ACP will stop enrolling new applicants on Feb. 7 and has released an Order detailing the wind-down of the ACP.
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. The end of the subsidies for broadband services in lower-income homes means that nearly 23 million households across the country are at risk of losing internet access.
“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.”
On Jan. 10, 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 saying, “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.”
Prospects for the bill remain uncertain, however, as Congress is currently having trouble passing legislation that would avoid a much wider government shutdown.
ACP funding is currently expected to last through April with only partial support available in May 2024, the FCC said.
Once the FCC announces the official final month of ACP funding, the agency said that 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 FCC order on winding down the program is available here.
