More than four years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, yet another federally funded pandemic-era program is ending.
The Federal Communications Commission announced on Friday that its Affordable Connectivity Program no longer has the money to continue.
The program — which offered $30 to $75 per month toward household internet bills and a one-time discount on laptops and tablets — had bipartisan support in Congress and is estimated to have helped 23 million Americans (one in six households) access the internet. Of those, over 1.1 million were Ohioans, according to statistics from the White House.
Households living at or below 200% of the federal poverty guideline were eligible for the discount.
It began in December 2020 as a way to help those who couldn’t afford internet when much of the world went online due to the pandemic. For many of those households, it made broadband internet affordable, according to the FCC.
“The ACP is not a nice to have, it is a necessity,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote Friday in a note about the program. “Each of the 23 million-plus ACP subscribers that no longer receives an ACP benefit represents an individual or family in need of just a little bit of help to have the connectivity we all need to participate in modern life.”
Before the program existed, 68% of households enrolled had inconsistent or no internet connectivity, according to the FCC. Now, as it is no longer funded, those families must cut expenses like food and gas to stay online or not use internet at all, Rosenworcel said.
Some of those households were able to use their new connectivity to do schoolwork, secure online jobs or work remotely, access medical care and more, Rosenworcel wrote.
Some Ohio households were even getting high-speed internet for free, according to the White House.
Funding ended in May, and new people stopped being able to enroll in February.
How to get internet for $30 a month for the rest of 2024
With the program ending, the Biden-Harris Administration called on Congress to extend the program’s funding and also highlighted internet providers that voluntarily are offering former ACP program recipients $30 per month or lower plans for service through the end of 2024.
The providers who are offering this discount cover as many as 10 million households that were enrolled in the ACP, according to the White House.
The companies participating include:
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Allo Fiber
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Altafiber (and Hawaiian Telcom)
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Astound Broadband
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AT&T
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Comcast
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Cox
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IdeaTek
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Mediacom
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MLGC
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Optimum
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Spectrum (Charter Communications)
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Starry
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Verizon
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Vermont Telephone Company
@DanaeKing
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: COVID funding program helped 1.1 million Ohioans afford internet ends
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
