Affordable Connectivity Program sees 1M signups - White House

Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking in North Carolina on Thursday, said that 1 million U.S. households have signed up in the last two months for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a $65 billion portion of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law intended to help consumers cut their household costs for high-speed Internet services.

In an attempt to build on that progress, a White House fact sheet stated that the Biden Administration is calling on governors across the country to participate in an all-in government enrollment drive to further boost sign-ups. Residents can check their eligibility and sign up for the ACP at GetInternet.gov.

As part of Thursday’s address in North Carolina, Vice President Harris said that has committed to email 5 million households to let them know about the ACP program and where to sign up.

Administered by the Federal Communications Commission, the program provides eligible households up to $30/month (or $75/month on Tribal lands) off internet bills, as well as a one-time $100 discount off a connected device. Also, back in May, at least 20 broadband providers partnered with the Administration to offer new service plans, meeting the ACP criteria, which also include no data caps or extra fees. Some plans could be completely covered by the ACP program.

The program is seen as a successor of sorts to the FCC’s earlier Emergency Broadband Benefits program (EBB). However, in the transition from the EBB to the ACP, some service providers may have lost household subscriptions that were part of the earlier program, but not the newer one. Charter Communications last month reported seeing this trend.