The Affordable Connectivity Program will provide at least 100Mbps broadband for no more than $30 per month to eligible low-income households.
The Biden administration has announced that 20 internet service providers across the U.S. have committed to lowering internet costs for low-income households as part of the Affordable Connectivity Program. The program was created last year as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and aimed to increase access to high-speed internet for 48 million additional households across the country. According to the government, the new initiative will cap the internet service costs for millions of homes and ensure that more people can afford the broadband they need for work, school, healthcare and more.
High-speed broadband remains a distant dream for many Americans, often due to high costs. That holds true in both rural and urban areas, where many households still have to do with outdated low-speed internet or even without any internet at all. While part of the problem in rural areas lies with the availability of high-speed broadband, the problem often lies not with availability but accessibility in urban and suburban areas. Most high-speed internet plans remain inaccessible to low-income households due to the high costs. That's precisely where the Affordable Connectivity Program comes in, and one that the Biden administration hopes will help address the accessibility problem.
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According to a press release by the White House, the Affordable Connectivity Program will provide high-speed broadband with at least 100Mbps of speed for no more than $30 per month. In a statement, the White House said that high-speed broadband is a necessity in modern times, but too many people don't have access to it due to high costs. It claimed that the new policy would help tens of millions of American households reduce their internet costs by up to $30 per month or $75 per month on tribal lands. The administration further claimed that nearly 40 percent of all American households would qualify for the program.
High-speed internet is not a luxury. It’s a necessity. But today, too many families simply can’t afford it. That’s why in November, when we passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we created something called the Affordable Connectivity Program. Here’s how it works.
The White House says that an estimated 48 million Americans will qualify for the program, with more than 11.5 households having already signed up to claim the subsidies. Also, more than 1,300 internet service providers across the country have agreed to participate in the program. As part of the plan, internet service providers will either reduce the price of their 100Mbps plan for eligible households to no more than $30 per month or increase the data speeds of their $30 plan to at least 100Mbps with no data cap. That should be fast enough to do just about everything for a typical family, including surfing the net, doing schoolwork, watching high-resolution videos without buffering, downloading massive games relatively quickly, and more.
To qualify for the Affordable Connectivity Program, the total income of a household should not exceed twice the federal poverty level. Also eligible are homes where a member participates in specific federal programs, such as Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly food stamps), federal public housing assistance, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Federal Pell Grant tuition assistance or subsidized school meals. It will also be available to households that already qualify for low-income service programs of any internet service provider. People can go over to getinternet.gov or call (877) 384-2575 to check whether they are eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program.
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Source: White House, Potus/Twitter