INDIANA – Over 23 million US households will be forced to pay hundreds more yearly or give up internet access as a key federal aid program runs out of money.
A federal benefit known as the Affordable Connectivity Program — which covers home internet service for low-income Americans — could end in May.
According to FCC data, the program is heavily used by Americans over age 50, military veterans, and low-income working families nationwide.
According to the White House, military families account for almost half of the ACP’s subscriber base. President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have blamed Republicans on Capitol Hill for blocking legislation that would extend the ACP, even as many Republican congressional districts have received millions of dollars from the program.
According to the White House and an outside survey backed by Comcast, military families account for almost half of the ACP’s subscriber base. More than a quarter of ACP users live in rural areas, the Comcast-backed survey said, with roughly four in ten enrolled households in the southern United States alone. As many as 65% of respondents said they feared losing their job without the ACP; three out of four said they worry about losing online healthcare services, and more than 80% said they believe their kids would fall behind in school.
“Because of political gameplay, about 60 million Americans will have to make hard choices between paying for the internet or paying for food, rent, and other utilities, widening the digital divide in this country,” said Gigi Sohn, a former top FCC official, lawyer, and co-founder of Public Knowledge. “It’s embarrassing that a popular, bipartisan program with support from nearly half of Congress will end because of politics, not policy.”
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks has crisscrossed the nation talking to Americans who depend on the ACP. During one visit to a nursing home, roughly a dozen older Americans approached him to say the ACP helped them access the internet for the first time.
“It’s telemedicine, visiting their grandkids, going to church online,” Starks told CNN.
As many as 65% of respondents said they feared losing their job without the ACP; three out of four said they worry about losing online healthcare services, and more than 80% said they believe their kids would fall behind in school.
Information: CNN
