Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)

With enrollment now open for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and the transition from the emergency broadband benefit program underway, some consumer advocacy groups told us they're concerned that EBB-enrolled households could face a bill shock or lose their benefit entirely if required to affirmatively opt in to receive the new benefit. Several questions remain because the FCC hasn't issued rules for the new program and the higher subsidy amount is set to end March 1.

Allow bulk Wi-Fi purchasers to certify to a service provider that its affordable connectivity program discount "has been passed through fully to multiple households" without having to send the households a bill, said Rhode Island nonprofit One Neighborhood Builders in comments posted Tuesday in docket 21-450. The group offers free Wi-Fi to low-income households through the Ocean State Higher Education Economic Development and Administrative Network, which leases fiber cables owned by Cox. Allowing OSHEAN to pay for the internet cost without sending users a bill would "make the ACP funds more accessible for unconnected households without burdening small nonprofits and households with additional paperwork," it said. The group said the change could lead to "several hundred households" signing up for ACP. The FCC didn't allow reimbursement during the emergency broadband benefit program in cases where a household "does not pay a fee for the service, either to the provider or a bulk purchaser/aggregator, but the fee is paid by another entity."

The FCC "has authority to prescribe minimum service standards" in the affordable connectivity program, said an Adtran letter last week in docket 21-450 (see 2112090061). The company disagreed with CTIA that "[no] commenter favoring selective restrictions on eligible households’ right to apply their benefit to the broadband service of their choice explains how such restrictions could be justified under the statute, and indeed no such justification exists." Adtran's reply backed MSS for fixed broadband.

Provider participation in the FCC’s affordable connectivity program is likely to be at a higher level than for the emergency broadband benefit program, we’re told (see 2112090061). Some industry groups said more providers may elect to participate since the new program is designed to be longer term than EBB.

CTA and other commenters told the FCC the $14.2 billion affordable connectivity program (ACP) should make room for the expansion of wireless networks, which will be critical to new generations of connected devices. Commenters also continue to raise implementation concerns as the agency shifts from the $3.1 billion emergency broadband benefit program to the new ACP (see 2112090061). Replies were posted Wednesday and Tuesday in docket 21-450.

Don't require "universal, proactive opt-in" to participate in the affordable connectivity program, a coalition of advocacy groups asked FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a letter posted Thursday in docket 21-450 (see 2112090061). Among the signers were Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, the National Consumer Law Center and Public Knowledge. Households transitioning from the emergency broadband benefit program should receive "clear and repeated notice that the program is transitioning" so they can decide whether and how they want to participate in ACP, the groups said, saying the FCC should "immediately" establish an outreach grant program that Congress allowed.

Apply emergency broadband benefit program rules to the affordable connectivity program until final rules are released, Comcast urged advisers to all FCC commissioners and staff in recent meetings, said a letter posted Monday in docket 21-450 (see 2112090061). It recommended a “true-up process” after the transition for EBB enrollees so providers can “seek full reimbursement.” Comcast backed allowing providers to perform “soft” credit checks on enrollees and applying a household’s initial ACP benefit “no later than the beginning of the subscriber’s first full billing period, rather than immediately."

T-Mobile representatives sought changes to rules for the FCC affordable connectivity program, in conversations with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and others at the commission. T-Mobile “expressed support” for FCC “efforts to implement ACP, which promises to bring the transformative benefits of broadband service to millions of households on a sustained basis,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 21-450. “To maximize consumer choice and innovation, the Commission should allow different brands or lines of businesses within the same legal entity -- not just different legal entities within the same corporate family -- to file separate election notices,” T-Mobile said. “Allow states to opt out of the National Lifeline Accountability Database for the purposes of ACP.” T-Mobile urged the FCC to allow enrollees in the emergency broadband benefit program to continue receiving benefits of up to $50 a month “until EBB funds are expended or March 1” and to “address the issue of what notification is required when an EBB provider decides not to participate in ACP.”

Top Republicans on the House and Senate Commerce committees pressed the FCC Monday for information on the agency’s response to the Office of Inspector General’s November report that some emergency broadband benefit providers were falsely claiming a child in a household attended a qualifying low-income school (see 2111220058). Commissioner Brendan Carr said he was “kept in the dark” about the OIG’s findings until the report’s public release (see 2111230067). OIG’s recent findings and past federal watchdog reports about “fraud and abuse” in other FCC programs “raise serious questions about” the commission’s “ability to oversee and manage its programs,” Senate Commerce ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi, House Commerce ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and the GOP ranking members of the Communications subcommittees wrote FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. They noted a 2020 GAO report that said the FCC’s oversight of its E-rate program was “insufficient … to identify potential fraud risks” (see 2009160081). “The upcoming transition of the EBB” to the $14.2 billion affordable connectivity program enacted via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act “provides further reason for concern,” the GOP lawmakers said. “Unlike other FCC subsidy programs, the ACP will be funded through appropriations, rather than Universal Service Fund contributions. We are concerned that the FCC may proceed with rules for a permanent ACP that do not adequately protect American taxpayers or best serve eligible households.” The lawmakers want Rosenworcel to explain by Jan. 7 when her office became “aware of fraud” in EBB, if the FCC has identified the providers that committed fraud and what actions the agency will take to “confirm the eligibility of current EBB recipients.” They also want to know whether Rosenworcel will seek comment on draft rules for ACP “from other commissioners and the public” and if the FCC will take steps to ensure “future enrollees” are eligible for the revised program. The FCC didn’t comment.

Ensuring there's no disruption of subscribers' broadband as they transition from the emergency broadband benefit program to the affordable connectivity program is critical, NCTA President Michael Powell told FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, per a docket 21-450 posting Friday. Rather than making EBB-enrolled households opt into ACP, the FCC should default to EBB customers remaining in ACP unless they are no longer eligible or choose to opt out, Powell said. Many ACP implementation issues won't be solved before its Dec. 31 start, especially as the commission likely won't adopt final rules by then, he warned.