Consumers in underserved areas can now receive an up-to-$75 monthly subsidy from the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced Thursday.
The new benefit, an increase from the ACP’s standard $30 per month allotment, applies to consumers living in “qualifying high-cost areas,” according to the FCC’s Report and Order.
The FCC is adopting this order based on a provision from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law in November 2021. Under the IIJA, the $75 monthly benefit supports providers that can demonstrate the standard $30 subsidy would result in “particularized economic hardship,” meaning they’d be unable to maintain all or part of their network in a high-cost area.
Exactly which high-cost areas will be eligible is unclear, but Congress has directed the NTIA to identify those areas and consult on the matter with the FCC. Similarly, states and territories must define high-cost areas in their initial proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.
The $14 billion ACP replaced and expanded the Covid-19 era Emergency Broadband Benefit program. As of July 31, 19.8 million households have signed up for the ACP, but analysts have predicted the program will run out of money sometime in 2024.
“There are ACP subscribers in every state and territory, and that includes a whole lot of rural communities,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel at an open Commission meeting Thursday. “In fact, more than 2.8 million ACP households are in rural counties.”
She added rural households are actually signing up for the ACP “at a higher rate” than their urban peers.
Providers that are approved to offer the high-cost benefit must annually resubmit proof that they’re unable to deploy broadband in the NTIA’s designated areas with the standard $30 per month allotment.
The FCC’s approval of a high-cost ACP benefit comes shortly after the agency extended its Alternative Connect America Model (A-CAM) program. ISPs enrolled in A-CAM are now required to deploy broadband speeds of at least 100 downstream and 20 Mbps upstream.
“We are laser-focused on protecting the integrity and success of the Affordable Connectivity Program,” said Rosenworcel. “That is why in implementing this aspect of the law today, we put in place safeguards recommended by the independent Office of Inspector General in order to ensure that the high-cost areas benefit works the way Congress intended.”