World Education Resources

In December of 2023, the FCC surveyed ACP recipients to better understand two questions -- the impact of the ACP program on recipients, and how the end of the program would affect access to broadband.

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Below are the survey's highlights. Additional resources include a Fact Sheet and the FCC press release.

• Highlight 1: Over three-quarters (77%) of the survey respondents say losing their ACP benefit would disrupt their service by making them change their plan or drop internet service entirely.

• Highlight 2: About half of survey respondents (47%) reported having either no internet service or relying solely on mobile internet service before receiving their ACP benefit. The same is true for rural respondents (53%).

• Highlight 3: Over two-thirds of survey respondents (68%) reported they had inconsistent or no internet service prior to ACP. The majority of this group cited affordability as the reason for having inconsistent or no service (80%).

• Highlight 4: ACP subscribers reported that they use their ACP internet service to schedule or attend healthcare appointments (72%), apply for jobs or complete work (48%), and do schoolwork (75% for ACP subscribers 18-24 years old).

As promised during our ACP Lessons Learned panel at Net Inclusion, our office has a white paper to describe the process for developing our ACP supplement, ACP Bridge. This was an incredibly collaborative process and we decided to put a white paper together in order to share the model for the program so that those with funding can implement it. 

 

This supplement added up to $20 per month for ACP beneficiaries receiving service from an ACP Bridge enrolled provider. Providers sign an agreement that lays out everyone’s roles in the benefit, beneficiaries must go through ACP enrollment and then consent to having their information shared with us. Once enrolled, the providers issue statement credits on beneficiaries bills and send us an invoice that consists of a subset of the spreadsheet they submit for ACP. Once we receive those spreadsheets we geocode new enrollees to confirm they are in our locality and issue a check. 

 

We’re incredibly proud of the low administrative overhead for both us, the providers, and the beneficiaries for this program, which meant that all the funds available went directly towards helping residents get and stay connected. 

 

We are continuing to work through how to continue the program, including exploring internal verification efforts and transitioning to a Lifeline-based program. Losing ACP is a real body blow and we continue to hope funding is renewed. 

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Jason Inofuentes

he/him/his

Program Manager

Broadband Accessibility and Affordability Office

Albemarle County