A federal program that helps low-income residents pay for internet is ending, affecting over 346,000 Virginians

A federal program that gives discounts on internet service to low-income households is ending this month, with no immediate plan to replace it.

The Affordable Connectivity Program for two years provided discounts of $30 a month, or $75 a month for people on tribal land. The $14.2 billion Congress made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has run out, and the Federal Communications Commission accepted its final application on Feb. 8. The program also included one-time $100 discounts on laptop, desktop or tablet purchases.

Despite multiple requests to extend the program — including from lawmakers and the FCC chairwoman — neither the Senate nor the House of Representatives is on schedule to address it. A Senate bill sits in committee. Legislation in the House to allocate $7 billion to the program for fiscal year 2024 did not make the final appropriations list, and an ACP funding extension is not likely before month’s end, Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said through a spokesman.

A bipartisan working group with members of both the House and Senate “is currently discussing ways to address vulnerable households, like so many in rural Virginia, in need of assistance to pay for broadband service,” Griffith said.

More than 23 million households are enrolled and have received the monthly discount, including about 346,000 in Virginia as of February, according to FCC figures. Southwest and Southside Virginia have 118,760 subscribers.

Some ACP households may receive a partial discount in May, which could range from $7 to $16, depending on the internet service provider.

The FCC benefit was created to ensure broadband for such uses as work, school and health care. It serves 1 in 6 households nationwide, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote in an April 2 letter to a House subcommittee. The FCC has sent notices this year to participating households, informing them that this is the last month they will see the full benefit, Rosenworcel wrote.

“These notices are required to help ACP households avoid service disruption and bill shock following the loss of the support provided by the program,” she wrote to the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government’s chairman, U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican.

Rosenworcel wrote that almost half of ACP households are led by someone older than 50, and that the program is a “need to have” for many senior citizens. Both seniors and military veterans access the internet for health care issues, she wrote.

“To fully participate in the digital age economy, every household needs access to broadband.  When Congress asked the Commission to set up the ACP to further this goal, we did so in record time,” she wrote to the House subcommittee leader. “The result has been the most consequential broadband affordability effort in our history. I want you to know that the agency remains ready to keep this program running, should Congress provide additional funding. We have come too far to allow this successful effort to promote internet access for all to end.”

In a February letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, she wrote that an FCC survey shows that more than 75% of households that subscribed to the program would experience service disruption, change their existing plan or discontinue service entirely.

Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Democrats, said through spokeswomen that they continue to support the ACP and are urging their colleagues to take action. Warner co-authored the Affordable Connectivity Program. He and Kaine were among 33 senators who signed letters to congressional leadership last month and in October 2023, urging further funding.

“For over two years, we’ve seen the Affordable Connectivity Program make the internet more accessible to almost half a million Virginia households — it makes no sense to turn our backs on this progress now,” Warner said through a spokeswoman. “I’m going to continue fighting to fund this crucial program at every turn and encouraging my colleagues in Congress to do the same.”

Kaine noted that he also helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that created the ACP.

“I will continue pushing to extend this critical funding and keep working to close the digital divide and expand internet access,” Kaine said through a spokeswoman.

As far as at least one Roanoke-area subscriber is concerned, though, the program is coming to an end. Casey King, 35, of Roanoke, has been unemployed since 2021 and is raising an 8-year-old girl. She learned about the program via word of mouth shortly after it started, and she signed up for it through her provider, Cox Communications.

She received a recent email that the program was winding down. She will now pay $69.99 a month for service.

“Our budget is really tight,” King said. “So I’m not really sure with an 8-year-old what it would look like without internet. So, right now I’m kind of juggling and trying to make everything work.

“The first thing that would probably go is gas to go places. And there’s not really much else that I can cut. I lost my full-time job in May of 2021, so I haven’t had a regular paycheck since then. Everything is just a juggling act, and something’s gonna fall.”

She added: “Internet is kind of required now, you know, between trying to help my daughter with the new way that they do math and all the [other] things that they’re learning. She’s in third grade now, and I swear some of this stuff we didn’t learn ‘til middle school.”

Cox’s public affairs director, Margaret-Hunter Wade, said by email that the cable, phone and internet provider has provided low-cost services including Connect2Compete and ConnectAssist to low-income households for more than 10 years. 

“As federal ACP benefits end, we’re committed to continue supporting qualifying customers with our low-cost products,” Wade wrote. The company encourages customers to visit, call or go to cox.com/lowcostinternet to their available options, she added.

North Carolina-based RiverStreet Networks services internet customers in Virginia. Its marketing manager, Marnita Harris, said that customers affected by the wind-down call the company’s customer service for help with options. 

“We’ll do everything we can to try to retain customers who are in that situation,” Harris said.

When calling their internet providers, customers should have account and billing information ready, the FCC advises.

Those with further questions may contact the ACP administrator, Universal Service Administrative Company, at 877-384-2575 or AffordableConnectivity.gov. Consumers may also file complaints about ACP billing and service issues through the FCC’s Consumer Complaint Center, https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov.

“If Congress provides more funding for the ACP, the FCC will share further information on how the ACP will continue at that time,” the FCC wrote in an FAQ about the wind-down.

The FCC required eligible households to meet at least one item from a list of criteria that included:

• Reported an income at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines.

• Participated in programs including SNAP, Medicaid or public housing assistance.

• Was approved for free or reduced school lunch or breakfast programs.

• Received a federal Pell Grant during the current award year.

There is another FCC benefit, the Lifeline Program, with a service discount up to $9.25 per month, or $34.25 for those on tribal lands. Household incomes up to 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines qualify, as do those participating in such assistance programs as SNAP and Medicaid, according to the FCC.

Two other sources of internet-related money are coming, and might be used to help, as well. The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program is part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and Virginia is getting $1.5 billion for that. The program, called BEAD, is designated for broadband infrastructure deployment in unserved areas, or areas where the upload and download speeds are lower than standard.

However, if states can show they have fully funded their infrastructure missions, they have “broad latitude” to spend remaining BEAD funds on other things, including affordability programming, according to Evan Feinman, director of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

“Each state can make its own determination about how to spend those funds, subject to approval from the [federal] Assistant Secretary of Commerce … whether it be on digital literacy, device provision, subsidies, or support for things like connected agriculture, disability access, telehealth, etc.,” Feinman wrote.

The commonwealth has yet to allocate that money, much less see its projects completed.

In late March, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced that Virginia can apply for $18.3 million “to empower individuals and communities with the tools, skills, and opportunities they need to benefit from meaningful access to high-speed internet.”

The money will help the state launch its Digital Opportunity Plan, which does not recommend a state-level broadband subsidy, according to a Department of Housing and Community Development spokeswoman. The plan will focus on issues including affordability under the federal Digital Equity Act, DHCD spokeswoman Alexis Mehretab said by email.

“The Digital Equity Act is designed to assist states in tackling broadband affordability and adoption needs,” Mehretab wrote.

The $18.3 million allocation is the first of three coming to the commonwealth from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA.

“This plan identifies specific digital opportunity needs among populations in Virginia and outlines strategies to effectively address them,” she wrote.

Mehretab added: “Virginia is committed to ensuring that broadband becomes accessible. This comprehensive approach acknowledges that both affordability and adoption are pivotal in narrowing Virginia’s digital divide.”