More than a dozen ISPs agreed to continue offering discounted internet plans to low-income households through the end of 2024, as the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) that was subsidizing the discounts ends, the Administration announced Friday.
The White House highlighted the voluntary commitments “so that families across America can continue accessing low-cost internet. This includes commitments from small, rural carriers that serve a single region and larger providers that cover multiple states.”
AT&T (NYSE: T), Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Cox, Spectrum (NASDAQ: CHTR), Verizon (NYSE: VZ), and nine other providers will continue offering their $30 or less plans – with no fees and data caps – to those currently enrolled in the ACP and other eligible households. Other participating providers include Allo Fiber, Altafiber (and Hawaiian Telcom), Astound Broadband, IdeaTek, Mediacom, MLGC, Optimum, Starry and Vermont Telephone Company.
Many of these ISPs have a long history of low-cost internet offers. Collectively, they cover up to 10 million ACP households, according to the Administration.
The ACP provided broadband discounts to more than 23 million households. It stopped completely on Saturday due to a lack of funding. Some households will maintain their low-cost internet plans under the newly announced agreements with providers. However the administration called on Congress once again to pass an additional $6 billion in funding to extend the program.
“It is regrettable that the Federal Communications Commission must bring to a close the most successful broadband affordability program in our Nation’s history,” FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel wrote in a letter to Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) on Thursday, reports The Hill. Joyce chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. “There continues to be a tremendous need for the ACP and the consistent, reliable benefit it offers to help low-income households in rural, suburban, and urban America get online and stay online,” Rosenworcel added.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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