With the last vapors of funding for the government’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) evaporating this month, two new bills propose to refuel the program that’s knocked $30 off the broadband bills of millions of Americans for the last few years. Without action from Congress, the funds dry up at the end of the month. $7 Billion From Spectrum AuctionsThe first bill, the Spectrum and National Security Act of 2024 unveiled Friday by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), leads off with the high-priority goal of making more wireless spectrum available for broadband and other uses. It would also renew the FCC’s authority to auction off spectrum, which Congress let lapse last March for the first time in 30 years—a bizarre oversight that confounded the industry. And it would earmark the largest chunk of the resulting revenue, $7 billion, to restore ACP funding.Another 10-figure allocation, $3.08 billion, would refresh funds available to reimburse wireless carriers that rip out and replace network equipment from the Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE. Carriers estimate that their total bill will be $5.6 billion.Other large allocations of this future spectrum-auction income include $5 billion to expand research funding authorized by 2022’s CHIPS And Science Act and $2 billion each for Next Generation 911 and support for designated technology hubs.$25 Billion From Taxing the Rich (Providers)The other bill, the Promoting Affordable Connectivity Act of 2024, announced Wednesday by Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), would secure ongoing funding for the ACP through an expansion of the FCC’s Universal Service Fund. Money for that would come from assessments on residential and business broadband providers as well as on “edge service” platforms, similar to the USF contributions paid today by telecommunications carriers. A copy of the bill provided by the senator’s office Thursday morning cites $25 billion in ACP funding over two years and defines eligible “edge service” providers as those that operate social media platforms, app stores, search engines, cloud computing or digital advertising services. The notion of taxing the likes of Meta, Google, Apple, and Microsoft to fund digital-equity projects has seen a lot of attention in Europe without having been enacted, while in the US, GOP FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has voiced support for this “fair share” idea.Dead on Arrival?Those two bills follow a smaller measure, the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act of 2024, that would appropriate $7 billion to keep the ACP going through this fiscal year but not pave a longer runway for this subsidy. But despite bipartisan backing in both chambers of Congress that includes 230 cosponsors in the House, the bill seems unlikely to advance in the House without a green light from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
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What Is the Affordable Connectivity Program?The FCC launched the ACP at the end of 2021 as a successor to an earlier pandemic-relief program. It has provided $30 discounts—$75 on qualifying Tribal lands—to households with incomes below 200% of federal poverty guidelines or that meet such other qualifying criteria as participating in Medicaid or having a child receiving free or reduced-cost school lunches.In 2022, the Biden administration enlisted 20 providers to offer 100Mbps plans with no data caps for $30, meaning with the ACP stipend, service was free.More than 23 million households had signed up when the FCC stopped taking new enrollments in February due to lack of funds. The White House has spent the last few months imploring Congress to renew this program’s funding. But if none of these bills pass, the program will expire at the end of May, with its remaining budget getting parceled out in $14 increments.
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