Sunday, July 9, 2023 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
Bipartisan support for federal broadband programs is bringing affordable, high-speed internet service to millions of Americans in rural and other underserved communities. But even as the White House celebrates progress toward the vision of universal connectivity, one key cornerstone of this bipartisan progress — the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) — is only months away from running out of funding.
Unless Congress acts before the end of this year to extend the program’s funding, millions of low-income families could lose their on-ramp to the digital economy.
Democrats and Republicans worked together to ensure 2021’s bipartisan infrastructure bill included the resources to bring broadband to every community and connect every American. This bipartisan roadmap included $42 billion to fund rural broadband projects bringing high-speed internet to unserved areas, plus $14 billion to help low-income families connect to the internet for little to no out-of-pocket cost via the ACP.
More than 18 million households have already signed up. But with the program on pace to run through its current funding in the next 12 months, many of these 18 million vulnerable households may lose broadband and the opportunities it brings to participate in online learning, remote work and health care.
Allowing the ACP to shrivel would represent a tragic reversal from the most effective federal initiative ever taken to close the digital divide.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights made it clear what is at stake in a recent letter to Senate leaders: Three million low-income seniors — and 400,000 veterans — could lose their access to home telehealth services. Three million students from low-income households could lose their ability to use online resources to do their homework. Underserved communities would lose years of progress in narrowing the digital divide.
The ACP has been effective because it takes direct aim at one of the biggest drivers of digital inequality: low broadband adoption rates. According to the Federal Communications Commission, 93% of Americans have broadband available where they live, but only 76% are actually connected and using the internet at home. That gap represents millions of Americans who are being left out of the digital economy.
The ACP is reducing this adoption gap in urban, suburban and rural areas, many of which are now getting high-speed broadband for the first time thanks to our bipartisan national investment in network infrastructure. Data shows that the ACP stretches those rural infrastructure dollars even further by reducing the amount of construction subsidy network builders need to make the financial math work on rural deployment projects. If we abandon the ACP, we will diminish the impact of every dollar committed to rural broadband funding.
The ACP’s success in connecting more families to broadband is boosting productivity and building wider, more capable workforces. One recent study found that subsidized broadband’s success in expanding the labor force delivers an exceptional return on investment: $2,200 in economic benefits for each participating household. As economists point to labor shortages as one factor driving inflation, extending the ACP to help more low-income families access online job boards, training programs or remote work opportunities should be a no-brainer.
The broadly shared benefits of universal broadband and the ACP explain the program’s bipartisan support. Enrollment data shows that conservative states like Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana and Ohio are among the program’s biggest per-capita beneficiaries.
In short, the ACP is working, offering tens of millions of Americans a digital ladder of opportunity to both share in and contribute to our modern, connected economy. Members of Congress should celebrate this bipartisan success story and commit to continue funding the ACP.
Connecting every American to the internet would represent a historic leap forward for economic dynamism and opportunity. Let’s finish the job, instead of fumbling the ball on the 5-yard line.
Rosa Mendoza is the founder, president and CEO of ALLvanza, a nonpartisan organization advocating for Latinos and other underserved communities within the technology, telecommunications, and innovation industries.
