This piece was originally published by Broadband Breakfast.
Broadband Breakfast has been covering the U.S. efforts to support broadband adoption for some time. The pandemic made everyone aware of the need to connect all Americans to broadband as it became absolutely essential for work, school, healthcare, public safety, e-government, and so much more. Hence Congress created the Affordable Connectivity Program and appropriated a monthly subsidy of $30 to eligible families which has brought and kept more than 18 million households online since 2021.
People use broadband to get a job, start a business, and learn new skills. Financial support to low-income Americans for broadband connectivity is an important, accepted social good, evidenced by the bipartisan support of the Universal Service Fund for almost 30 years. All Americans are better off when more people can have employment, health, and education. Notably accessing these services by broadband uses less government resources than in person.
Data and learning from ACP is critical to broadband policy researchers like John Horrigan at the Benton Institute, the Pew Broadband Access Initiative, Hernan Galperin at USC Annenberg, and the Government Accountability Office, Paul Garnett, and the American Consumer Institute which just convened an event on the topic. Former Federal Communications Commission Mike O’Reilly observed that the key argument for the ACP is upward mobility.
